Brian Kelly earns $500,000 bonus with Army win that makes LSU bowl-eligible

Already one of the highest-paid college employees in the nation, LSU football coach Brian Kelly on Saturday night added a $500,000 bonus to his compensation total when the Tigers defeated Army 62-0 in Baton Rouge to get their sixth win of the season and become eligible for a bowl game.

The amount is by far the largest bonus payment available to a public-school coach for becoming eligible for a bowl game that does not involve a contract extension, according to USA TODAY Sports’ recently published annual survey of football head coaches’ pay.

It means that, at a minimum, Kelly’s pay for this season will be $10.475 million – and he will get more if the team meets an academic benchmark, furthers its success on the field or he wins coach-of-the-year awards.

Kelly’s contract states that will receive the $500,000 payment incentive if the team is “bowl eligible.” Under NCAA rules, that generally means winning at least six of 12 regular season games. LSU is now 6-2 (4-1 in Southeastern Conference play). It is now set to play in a bowl game for the 23^rd time in its 24 most recent seasons.

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Most football head coaches’ contracts call for a bonus if the team plays in a bowl game. But among public-school coaches, the second-most-lucrative amount for the team playing in a bowl game that is not one of the six connected to the College Football Playoff (CFP) is the $275,000 that Utah’s Kyle Whittingham can get. Penn State’s James Franklin can get $200,000 for this. Whittingham and Franklin have earned the bonus for this season with both teams reaching six wins.

Other highly paid coaches’ contracts call for a bowl-appearance bonus only if the team plays in one of the six CFP-affiliated games, also called the New Year’s Six. Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, Ohio State’s Ryan Day and Oregon’s Dan Lanning are among examples of this, although Harbaugh gets a $500,000 bonus if the Wolverines play in the Big Ten Conference championship game.

Clemson’s Dabo Swinney cannot get a bonus for the Tigers playing in a game that is not among the New Year’s Six unless they have won at least eight regular season games. Oklahoma’s contract with Brent Venables makes such a bonus contingent on the Sooners winning at least seven regular-season games.