Looking at the practice of awarding huge buyouts to major college football coaches
The rising price of big-time college football is reflected in dry language buried within the 2 ½ -page contract extension Jim Mora signed with UCLA last year.
Sixty-one words detail the bill for UCLA to fire the coach without cause: "Eighty percent of the Base Salary and Talent Fee remaining to be paid ..."
That meant the school could owe Mora more than $12 million after dismissing him last month. That's almost as much as UCLA's $13.6-million tab for athletic scholarships in the 2015-16 fiscal year, according to the U.S. Department of Education's Equity in Athletics report.
The press release announcing Mora's firing didn't note the lucrative going-away gift.
"It's insane by any standard," said Ramogi Huma, a former UCLA football player who is president of the reform-minded College Athletes Players Assn. "Just when you think you've got your head wrapped about the numbers, something like this happens. It reminds you that by no means is this amateur athletics."
But Mora's eight-figure payout isn't unusual. In recent weeks, Arizona State paid Todd Graham $12.1 million to leave, Arkansas gave Bret Bielema $11.8 million and former Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin got $10.4 million.
The reported buyouts for some coaches who remain employed are even bigger. They include Utah's Kyle Whittingham ($12.3 million), Iowa's Kirk Ferentz ($22.5 million), Alabama's Nick Saban ($26.9 million) and, what is believed to be the largest figure in college football, Clemson's Dabo Swinney ($40 million).
Former Arizona State coach Todd Graham stands on the field during the first half against San Diego State on Sept. 9. Arizona State paid Todd Graham $12.1 million to leave.
Read the full article on the Los Angeles Times by Nathan Fenno here: http://www.latimes.com/sports/more/la-sp-college-football-buyouts-20171205-story.html