Every year, head football coaches at major universities ink staggering contracts that guarantee them millions, sometimes regardless of their future with the team.
Yet former Baylor coach Art Briles is navigating a different scenario as he attempts to reboot his career at Division II Eastern New Mexico University.
If you’ve been frustrated watching public universities yield to the demands of their football coaching hires, Briles’ deal with ENMU presents a model of more prudent financial management.
Details from his contract, acquired by Sportico, reveal that his two-year agreement with the Greyhounds will pay him $140,000 each year, plus potential bonuses, as an at-will employee.
This status allows the university to terminate his employment without cause and with no financial obligation. Conversely, Briles faces a $2 million penalty if he exits before fulfilling the contract.
Incentives are capped at a $100,000 bonus for winning the D-II national championship. He also receives a $10,000 relocation payment, which he would have to repay in full if he leaves the job within the first six months.
Eastern New Mexico’s athletics budget stands at approximately $8.6 million for the 2024 fiscal year, as reported to the U.S. Department of Education. This budget includes a total of $598,000 designated for head coaching salaries across all six men’s sports, with the football team operating on a budget of $1.4 million.
Briles’ removal from Baylor in 2015 followed a scandal involving campus sexual assaults that deeply affected the university’s athletic department, leading to the resignations of key figures, including the school president and athletic director. After his dismissal, Briles sued Baylor for libel and slander, reaching a settlement in 2018 for $15.1 million.
Post-Baylor, the 70-year-old Texas native briefly took an assistant coaching position with the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats, which was rescinded amid public backlash. He then coached in Italy for a time, before returning to Texas to head Mount Vernon High School. However, controversy arose again due to the use of ineligible players, leading to his resignation in December 2020 before heading back to Italy.
Before his departure from Baylor, Briles led the Bears to five straight bowl games and maintained a 65-37 record from 2008 to 2015. Following his exit, Baylor faced ongoing turmoil, recently spotlighted by the resignation of athletic director Mack Rhoades, who was placed on leave after an incident with a player earlier this year.
