14 bonuses Tennessee football's Josh Heupel can earn in new contract, including national championship
Josh Heupel’s big raise and contract extension includes a $1 million bonus if Tennessee football wins a national championship.
There’s also no longer a cap on his incentives, which could pile up in an exceptional season. In his original contract, Heupel could never earn more than $1.2 million in bonuses in a given year.
Heupel has accumulated $350,000 in bonuses from the 2022 season, and that could increase with academic success. His amended deal will pay him $9 million annually through January 2029. It carries over the bonuses from his original contract but doesn't limit their total.
BIG RAISE FOR HEUPELVols coach nearly doubles pay as part of contract extension
RANKING SEC COACH PAYWhere Josh Heupel's salary ranks among highest-paid coaches
Here are the 14 bonuses in eight categories that Heupel can earn in his amended contract:
Bonus for national championship
Heupel gets $1 million if Tennessee wins the national title, increased from $500,000 in his original contract. He gets $400,000 if Tennessee loses in the CFP national title game.
The Vols have won two consensus national titles in program history (1951, 1998), the last under Phillip Fulmer.
Bonus for College Football Playoff
Heupel gets $300,000 if Tennessee reaches the College Football Playoff but does not advance to the championship game.
The Vols got close last season. They were No. 1 in the CFP rankings before losing to eventual national champion Georgia. And they were still in contention for a playoff spot before suffering an upset to South Carolina in November.
Bonus for SEC championship
Heupel gets $100,000 if Tennessee plays in the SEC Championship Game and $300,000 if the Vols win it. He can’t receive both bonuses.
Both feats have been a long time coming. Tennessee last won an SEC championship in 1998. It hasn’t reached the title game since losing to LSU in 2007. Fulmer was fired a year later.
Bonus for New Year’s Six Bowl
Heupel gets $200,000 if Tennessee plays in a New Year’s Six Bowl. That happened last season when the Vols beat Clemson in the Orange Bowl.
The New Year’s Six Bowls are the four best bowls outside the playoff. They rotate between the Rose, Sugar, Peach, Fiesta, Cotton and Orange. Participants are determined by conference championships and CFP rankings.
Bonus for lesser bowl bid
Heupel gets $100,000 if Tennessee makes a bowl outside of the CFP and New Year’s Six Bowls. Those bowls with SEC tie-ins include the Citrus, ReliaQuest, Gator, Music City, Texas, Liberty, Duke’s Mayo, Las Vegas, Birmingham and Gasparilla.
Heupel received that money when Tennessee lost to Purdue in the Music City Bowl following his debut season in 2021. The Vols have played in a bowl in eight of the past 14 seasons under Lane Kiffin (one bowl), Derek Dooley (one), Butch Jones (three), Jeremy Pruitt (one) and Heupel (two).
Bonus if Tennessee is ranked
Heupel gets $150,000 if Tennessee finishes the season ranked in the top five in the AP poll, coaches poll or CFP rankings. He gets $100,000 if the Vols finish in the top 10 or $50,000 if they’re in the top 25.
He receives only the highest amount of the three bonuses.
Last season, Tennessee finished No. 6 in all three polls, so Heupel gets $100,000. Alabama was No. 5 despite losing to the Vols.
Bonus if Heupel is coach of the year
Heupel gets $100,000 if he earns any of the major national coach of the year awards and $50,000 for AP SEC Coach of the Year. He can receive both bonuses for the same season.
He’s earned the lesser bonus as the 2022 AP SEC Coach of the Year.
Bonus for academic success
Heupel gets $50,000 for an Academic Progress Rate (APR) of 945 or greater and $100,000 for an APR score of 985 or greater. APR measures eligibility and retention of student-athletes based on a 1,000-point scale.
Tennessee football scored 944 in 2020-21, according to the most recent report. Pruitt and Heupel shared that academic year. In Heupel’s three seasons as Central Florida coach, the football team scored 984, 975 and 990 in APR.
Reach Adam Sparks at adam.sparks@knoxnews.com and on Twitter @AdamSparks.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football: Coach Josh Heupel contract bonuses in new deal