Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter is working under two contracts. Here are the details
OXFORD — Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter earns $1.1 million in base pay per year, under the terms of his state and Ole Miss Athletic Foundation contracts obtained by the Clarion Ledger.
He's also entitled to an annual raise proportionate to the average rate of across-the-board raises provided to staff at the university.
Carter stepped into his current role on a full-time basis in November 2019. He had previously served as the interim AD following the departure of Ross Bjork for Texas A&M in May of the same year.
He signed his most recent state contract on Jan. 14, 2022. The original term of that agreement runs through June 30, 2025, but Carter's contract includes language that extends the agreement for one year every July unless Carter or the university opts out of the extension.
The entirety of Carter's base compensation comes from his state contract, but he does have a parallel contract with the OMAF – a private athletic foundation. In the past, Ole Miss and the foundation had declined to release that contract, saying it was not subject to disclosure under the state's open records law.
Through his OMAF agreement, Carter earned a retention bonus worth $300,000 on Nov. 21, 2023 – the accumulation of four individual retention bonuses worth $75,000 each. He also receives a handful of perks, including a membership at the Goose Creek Club of Oxford, Ole Miss golf course usage privileges, a suite at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for football games and eight premium seats at any other venue where the OMAF has the right to allocate seating priority. Carter's OMAF contract also entitles him to the use of a cell phone and vehicle stipends for two cars.
Because Mississippi state law prevents public employees from signing state contracts longer than four years, OMAF contracts for coaches and administrators exist in part to allow the foundation to offer longer agreements. Because the OMAF is private, the four-year limit does not apply.
Carter's OMAF contract doesn't do that. Instead, its term matches that of his state contract, and is automatically extended along with Carter's state agreement.
Under the terms of Carter's state contract, the university would owe Carter the entirety of his remaining salary should it fire him without cause. If Carter were to accept employment elsewhere, he has no buyout obligation.
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Carter's OMAF contract states that he is an employee of the university, not the foundation, though Carter can be found in the staff directory for both organizations.
David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.
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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: See Ole Miss athletic director's Keith Carter contract details