New Colorado football coach Deion Sanders is poised to earn $29.5 million over five years, not including potential bonuses and incentives, according to a Monday report from the Mississippi Clarion Ledger. The contract is the largest financial package ever given to a CU football coach, athletic director Rick George told the Denver Post.
Sanders was introduced as Colorado’s new football coach on Dec. 4, but the terms of Sanders’s contract were not disclosed at the time as the details were still being finalized.
Sanders’s contract stipulates that he will earn $5.5 million in his first season, which includes a base salary of $500,000 plus $1.75 million for radio, television and public appearances; $1.75 million for promotion and fundraising; and $1.5 million for “development of the student-athlete.”
By ’24, Sanders’s compensation increases to $5.7 million, then to $5.9 million in ’25, $6.1 million in ’26 and $6.3 million in ’27. In addition, Sanders will receive $5 million to assemble his assistant coaches and support staff.
In regard to buyout figures, Sanders would owe Colorado $15 million in liquidated damages if he were to leave after one year at the school. Sanders would owe $10 million if he left after year two, $8 million after year three and $5 million after years four or five of his contract with the school.
If Colorado buys out Sanders’s contract before the end of the agreement, the school is on the hook for 75% of the remaining base and supplemental salary left on his contract.
A major rebuilding project awaits Sanders and the Buffaloes, but a hefty contract for the former Jackson State coach ensures that the job he is undertaking is well worth his time.
