Will Wade has five-year deal for $198,000 annually

Friday, January 1, 1904

photo Will Wade is the new UTC men's head basketball coach.
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The salary for directing men's basketball at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has increased by more than $50,000 from its previous coach.

Newly hired Will Wade will receive an annual base salary of $177,000 and additional compensation including $15,000 for broadcast contracts and a vehicle allowance of $6,000 per year for a total of $198,000.

The memorandum of understanding, obtained by the Times Free Press, identifies a five-year agreement from this past Tuesday through April 30, 2018.

"We just wanted the salary to be more competitive within the marketplace," athletic director David Blackburn said in a text message.

Former Mocs coach John Shulman earned $138,000 for his final season and will continue to receive monthly installments because UTC dismissed him with a year remaining on his contract.

"The most important part of the deal was getting five years, because I feel that is a realistic timetable to get the program up and running," Wade said. "Five years gets your first recruiting class to matriculate all the way through.

"Certainly we're not going to wait five years though."

Women's basketball coach Jim Foster will receive an annual salary of $126,690 as well as $15,000 for his broadcast pay for a term of five years.

The memorandums for Wade and Foster are very similar, including the broadcast and vehicle allowances.

Both will receive a one-time moving allowance of $15,000, and Wade said finding a place to live is on his agenda for the first of next week.

Performance-based incentives include 12 percent of base pay for reaching the NCAA tournament and an additional 4 percent for each win in the Big Dance. Either coach would get 10 percent for playing in the NIT.

There also are academic incentives. The coaches will receive two weeks of base pay for meeting the single-year APR benchmark of 940. But if the APR falls below 930, they will forfeit the annual incentive.

"I think the APR is important," Wade said. "I was glad they took the academic part seriously. One thing I'm passionate about is getting the APR turned around to where we're not close to the cut line."

Neither memorandum includes any details about how much the rest of the coaching staffs will be paid.

"There's not a set pool of money, but they will have a competitive salary based on where they've been," Wade said. "I think our staff will be competitive with the top half or third of the league."

The percentage for either coach terminating the contract is the same as well -- 75 percent of base pay after 2015, 50 percent after 2016, 25 percent after 2017 and nothing after April 30, 2017.

"Another thing that's important is the commitment of David and the administration," Wade said. "We're going to make this a first-class program all the way around."

Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.