After two months of negotiations, Ball State University football coach Brady Hoke will enter the 2008 season with his named signed to an enhanced contract.
After talks with President Jo Ann Gora and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tom Collins, Hoke came to an agreement about the contract, which will raise his salary to $240,000 per year with additional incentives and a buyout clause.
"We checked with what was going on in the market and based everything off of that to stay competitive," Collins said. "We wanted to not just enhance his contract but reward him for the season he had,"
Effective immediately, the contract will raise Hoke's salary more than $70,000 from his previous level of $169,634. In addition to the increase, Collins said, the contract will include monetary incentives for Hoke if he would win national coach of the year, a BCS bowl game or the Mid-American Conference championship.
The buyout clause, a new addition the contract, would require payment of $300,000 within the first year and decrease annually if Hoke opted out of his recently signed agreement.
"I wanted to be fair to Ball State and fair to where we've been up to this point," Hoke said. "This is a school I'm proud of so fairness is something I want to have."
At the start of the contract talks, Collins said his goal was to move Hoke's salary into the top half of the coaches in the MAC. The current contract will place Hoke third or fourth among the 13 MAC coaches, depending on unreleased salary details of Temple University head coach Al Golden.
Hoke is set to be Ball State's coach through the 2010 season, and Collins would not comment on if he thought Hoke would stay for the remainder of his contract.
Collins said the enhancement is a result of the Cardinals' successful season and trip to the International Bowl on Jan. 5. If Hoke has more success in the program, Collins said, more enhancements are possible.
"We will take a look at it when the time gets here," he said.
Ball State senior captain Cortlan Booker agreed with his coach when he said the new contract is a sign the athletics department and the university are dedicated to giving incentives for winning programs.
"I think it's important that Ball State rewards good seasons like this," Booker said. "After [Tracy] Roller had her contract redone, it was a good sign for the rest of the coaches."
Despite the monetary figures, Booker said he didn't think the contract did his five-year coach justice.
"The dollar amount isn't enough," Booker said. "But, if he is happy then it probably is."
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