Iowa AD: Fran McCaffery earned new deal (with contract, Big Ten compensation numbers)

IOWA CITY - Fran McCaffery and his boss, Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta, put a provision in McCaffery's initial six-year contract to openly discuss a new deal two years into his term as men's basketball coach.

Two years later, Barta believes McCaffery has shown enough progress to warrant a new contract. Tuesday, it was made official with the school announcing a seven-year deal for McCaffery lasting through the 2019 season. McCaffery is guaranteed $1.3 million this year, up from $1.15 million.

“In terms of what it means for the program, it's the kind of stability that we're looking for, to know that we're headed in the right direction and making the kind of progress that we need to make,” McCaffery said Tuesday. “I think we've got some tangible results and I think there's a tremendous feeling, a tremendous positive feeling about the program as we move forward. We just want to keep building on that momentum.

“We talk about making progress, you can make progress, but we want more. We're not satisfied with where we are today. We're sort of happy with what we've accomplished in a short period of time but we want more, our fans want more and that's sort of the game plan as we move forward.”

McCaffery inherited a program with the worst record in school history after a 10-22 disaster in 2009-10. The Hawkeyes were 11-20 in McCaffery's first year and last year finished 18-17. The Hawkeyes qualified for their first postseason tournament - the NIT - since 2006, and won their first postseason game in nine years.

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Iowa also saw significant increases in attendance in the last two years. Iowa averaged nearly 2,500 more fans per home game last season than in 2009-2010.

“It felt like the right time to be able to do this,” Barta said. “I'm thrilled we're able to put it together. He and his family have adapted and embraced Iowa. They're all in. I'm feeling confident that Iowa has embraced and accepted the McCaffery family.”

The contract provides a sliding scale of compensation for McCaffery. His guaranteed income increases by $200,000 the season after he pushes the team into the NCAA tournament. If he takes Iowa to the NCAA tournament next year, his salary increases to $1.7 million for 2013-14. If Iowa does not qualify, McCaffery's salary is $1.5 million.

“We certainly want our coaches to be competitive in the marketplace,” Barta said. “It warranted increasing Fran's salary partly because of the marketplace, but at the same time, I'd always been a big believer in incentive. So it was unique, it was a little bit more creative, but it was a way to reward him for what he's already done but also leave room for the day when it sort of tips it over and increases even more from there.”

Among salaries, benefits and other compensation, McCaffery ranked at least ninth among nine Big Ten basketball programs that reported those figures during the 2010-11 basketball season. The schools provided those documents to The Gazette through state open records laws. McCaffery's total of about $1.5 million far below Michigan State (almost $5 million), Indiana ($2.6 million) or eighth-best Michigan at $1.8 million. Penn State and Northwestern did not submit information.

“We naturally started talking about a new contract that would move him up competitively in the Big Ten,” Barta said. “What we ended up with I'm very pleased with, as is he.”

2010-11 BIG TEN BASKETBALL HEAD COACHES' COMPENSATION (Salary, benefits, bonuses)

• Michigan State $4,978,641
• Indiana $2,593,952
• Minnesota $2,286,792
• Ohio State $2,230,000
• Wisconsin $1,991,772
• Illinois $1,888,233
• Purdue $1,862,285
• Michigan $1,804,124
• Iowa $1,468,086
• Penn State N/A
• Northwestern N/A
• Nebraska $954,642 (not a Big Ten member)
• All of the salaries were from information submitted to the NCAA and acquired by The Gazette through each state's open-records law