Tuesday, September 17, 2013
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach Russ Huesman's contract was amended and restructured in late June by athletic director David Blackburn, and the fifth-year coach received a small raise and an extension through the 2016 season.
Hired in December 2008 to turn around a long-struggling Mocs program, the former UTC safety initially was paid $150,000 annually, with several bonuses in place, as well as $15,000 a year for his radio and television work.
The bonuses covered such variables as attendance, Academic Progress Rate performance and making the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. Some have been reached; others haven't.
The $10,000 bonus Huesman received for UTC averaging more than 10,000 fans a game at Finley Stadium -- something that happened in three of his first four seasons, narrowly missing in 2012 -- has been added to his base pay. Also added was the $5,000 bonus for no major NCAA violations. Huesman's annual salary is now $175, 738.
"We were proud and happy to do that," Blackburn said of the adjustments to Huesman's base salary. "I felt like that position needed to be paid a little bit more to be market competitive, and I'm glad we were able to do that."
Three games into his fifth season, Huesman is 25-22. In the preceding eight seasons before he arrived, the Mocs won a total of 22 games. UTC is off to a 2-1 start in 2013 and begins Southern Conference play Sept. 28 at Georgia Southern.
Contact John Frierson at jfrierson@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6268. Follow him at twitter.com/MocsBeat.