Fresno State capped bonuses in contract with coach Jeff Tedford, but there’s a twist

Fresno State football coach Jeff Tedford accepted a university-friendly contract to return to his alma mater a second time, but the deal does include a financial twist. It might pinch a little, but it also would have everyone grinning from one end of their famous Fresno State sweet corn to the other.

Under terms of a contract released by the university on Monday, Tedford will be paid $8.25 million in base salary over five years with the breakdown starting at $1.5 million in 2022, then $1.55 million in ‘23, $1.6 million in ‘24, $1.75 million in ‘25 and $1.85 million in ‘26.

The maximum amount of performance bonuses to be paid in any fiscal year is $350,000 excluding three tied to bowl participation: coaching or winning in a New Year’s Six bowl game, coaching in a College Football Playoff national semifinal and coaching or winning the College Football Playoff national championship.

If Tedford gets the Bulldogs to any one of the above, the university would likely be happy to pay bonuses that range from $250,000 for playing in and $350,000 for winning a New Year’s Six bowl game, $500,000 for participating in a CFP national championship semifinal and $1 million for winning a CFP national title.

A Mountain West Conference champion last played in a New Year’s Six game in 2014 when Boise State beat Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl. But the college football landscape will be changing toward the end of that contract, with UCF, Houston and Cincinnati from the American Athletic Conference and FBS independent BYU joining the Big 12.

The Bearcats this season also became the first champion from a Group of Five conference to be selected to play in a national championship semifinal, the No. 4 going up against No. 1 Alabama in the Cotton Bowl.

Tedford in his first run at Fresno State had a contract that included more than $2.7 million in performance bonuses, not including a completion bonus.

The performance bonuses in this contract are tied to the Bulldogs’ annual Academic Progress Rate score (up to $90,000), grade-point average (up to $55,000), regular-season wins (up to $120,000), conference success (up to $75,000), CFP playoff standing (up to $75,000) and individual coach of the year honors (up to $60,000).

This story was originally published December 13, 2021 at 6:45 PM.