Justin Wilcox’s Cal contract averages out to around $1.9 million a year

Contract details have been released on California Golden Bears new head coach Justin Wilcox. We knew that Wilcox’s deal was five years and will run through the 2021 season, but let’s take a look at the current terms.

• Wilcox’s base salary stands at $250,000. That is consistent with Sonny Dykes’s base salary of $250,000 at the start of his Cal contract, which eventually rose to $350,000 after his contract extension last season.
• Wilcox’s talent fee starts off at $1.25 million, and will gradually elevate to $2.5 million by the end of his contract. The talent fee is guaranteed. So Wilcox will make $1.5 million in 2017, and is set to make $2.75 million by 2021.
• Wilcox has a hiring bonus of $100,000 as well.

Wilcox still ends up as the lowest paid coach in the Pac-12 by about $500,000, but Cal has found a way to get creative with the buyout to offset that.

• If Wilcox is fired without cause, Cal is on the hook for the entire contract. Cal has to pay back all the remaining amount of base pay and talent fee. That has to give Wilcox pretty solid job security—even after three years, Cal would be on the hook for at least half a million.
• Basically, Justin Wilcox is guaranteed around nine to ten million these next five seasons (and likely more, if he decides to leave). He’s in a good spot for himself.