On Thursday we had the story of Tom Herman pledging up to $25,000 of his own money to help Houston's fundraising effort. Middle Tennessee head coach Rick Stockstill has done him one better.
According to the Daily News Journal, Stockstill, 57-55 with four bowl trips in nine seasons at Middle Tennessee, signed a new contract last week that would have paid him a $100,000 raise from the $721,704 salary he earned in 2014, but the coach chose to push back his raise four years to help the Blue Raiders balance the budget.
His new salary won't kick in until after the 2018 season.
"I wanted to do this. I came up with this deal, and I said don't pay me the $100,000 raise the first four years, so I'm saving $400,000 to get us through cost of attendance and to where, hopefully, we can get the facilities that we need to compete with everybody else in these next few years," Stockstill told the paper.
Stockstill's old contract called for a $100,000 raise if Middle Tennessee hits certain provisions; the new deal eliminates that clause. It also makes it more difficult for Stockstill to obtain an automatic one-year extension, increasing the prerequisite from five to six Conference USA victories in addition to requiring a winning record, an APR of at least 940 and avoiding major NCAA infractions.
"He came to me with it," Middle Teneesse AD Chris Massaro said. "We worked out a couple of details and it was really a sound plan. I agreed to it. (MTSU President) Dr. (Sidney) McPhee agreed it and I think it was good for all parties involved."