EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Former UTEP men’s basketball head coach Rodney Terry signed a three-year contract that will pay him $500,000 per season to be the Texas Longhorns associate head coach, KTSM has learned through an open records request.
Terry left the Miners in April after three seasons to be the associate head coach at Texas under Chris Beard. He was paid $725,000 per year to be UTEP’s head coach, so Terry took a $225,000 pay cut to be on the staff of a potential top-five team in college basketball in 2021-22.
When Terry left for Texas, it was initially opined that he could be getting a pay raise to be an assistant for the Longhorns, potentially in the $1 million per year range. His official, three-year deal with Texas will end after the 2023-24 season.
In addition to the $500,000 yearly salary, Terry was paid a $29,000 relocation, moving and temporary housing allowance. He is also eligible for a variety of performance incentives based on Texas succeeding in the postseason.
If Texas win a conference regular season or tournament championship, Terry will receive a bonus of 2.5% of his yearly salary. Upon making the NCAA Tournament, Terry would receive a bonus of 5% of his yearly salary; 7.5% for a Round of 32 appearance; 10% for a trip to the Sweet 16; 12.5% for an Elite 8 berth; 15% if Texas makes the Final 4; 17.5% if the Longhorns make the national title game; and Terry would receive a bonus of 25% of his annual salary if Texas were to win the national championship.
If Terry hits all of those bonuses – meaning, if Texas were to win a conference regular season and tournament championship, then win the national championship – his performance incentive bonuses would total $487,500. Thus, Terry is capable of making nearly $1 million to be Texas’ associate head coach, though the Longhorns would have to make a fantastic postseason run for him to do so.
Terry’s buyout at Texas is 50% of whatever is left on his three-year contract, if he leaves the Longhorns to take another job. However, if he departs Texas for a head coaching job at another Division I program, or an NBA team, the buyout is waived completely. That is similar to a clause in Terry’s buyout at UTEP that meant Texas did not have to pay UTEP a $500,000 buyout for Terry in April.
While at UTEP, Terry received a contract extension from the Miners in February, 2021, that would have kept him in El Paso until 2024. As part of the agreement, he received a one-year pay cut of nearly $200,000 due to COVID-19 pandemic budget cuts for the 2020-21 fiscal year.
Terry’s successor at UTEP, Joe Golding, officially signed a five-year deal with UTEP that will pay him $700,000 per season, plus performance incentives, last week.
To view Terry’s three-year contract with Texas in full, click on the link below.