Mark Turgeon’s new Maryland contract doesn’t include a buyout

Maryland basketball head coach Mark Turgeon’s new four-year contract extension makes him the 15th highest-paid coach in all of college basketball, ahead of Villanova’s Jay Wright. Turgeon will earn $2.55 million annually in base and supplemental salaries, subject to 5 percent annual raises, with a chance to earn an additional $425,000 each year through an assortment of incentives.

Those include:

• $50,000 for winning the Big Ten regular season title (including ties)
• $50,000 for winning the Big Ten Tournament
• $25,000 for clinching an NCAA Tournament bid
• $30,000 for each tournament round appearance until Sweet Sixteen (cumulative)
• $75,000 for a Sweet Sixteen appearance
• $100,000 for an Elite Eight appearance (non-cumulative)
• $150,000 for a Final Four appearance (non-cumulative)
• $200,000 for winning the National Championship (max earning)
• $25,000 for an NIT bid
• $10,000 for winning each NIT round (cumulative)
• $50,000 if named Big Ten Coach of the Year by the coaches or media
• $40,000 if named Coach of the Year by AP, Naismith or sports writers

If things go south between Maryland and Turgeon, the school will be stuck paying him way more than it had to give Randy Edsall, the football coach who it paid $2.6 million to walk away last year. Edsall signed a contract extension in 2015, the season right before he was fired. His contract required Maryland pay the $2.1 million he was owed for the 2016 season even after he was fired, plus $500,000 for the buyout.

There’s no buyout in Turgeon’s extension, and the contract is a statement of confidence from Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson, who took plenty of criticism for the financial aftermath of Edsall’s firing.

If the university fires Turgeon, it would owe him 50 percent of his remaining base and supplemental salaries within 60 days, and the remainder of his contract’s base and supplemental salaries in increments through the end of his term. He’d only miss out on bonuses he hadn’t yet reached, plus obvious chances to earn outside income as Maryland’s head coach.

If Turgeon decides to leave for another head coaching job, or bumps up the NBA, it will cost him at least $250,000. If he chooses to leave between July 1, 2016 and May 9, 2018, he’d owe $500,000, between May 10, 2018 and May 9, 2021, $350,000 and any time after, $250,000.

Additional contract quirks allow Turgeon $1,200 per month “automobile allowance” to lease a car for personal use, and a $120 per month cell phone allowance.

Anderson and Maryland are clearly confident in Turgeon, enough to give an extension in advance and leave out a buyout clause. If they’re wrong, they’re willing to pay for it. It’s bold, and a bit surprising given the Edsall situation from a year ago, but Turgeon has shown nothing but promise and growth in each year. He skyrocketed to a household name after assembling one of the program’s most talented teams ever in just his fifth year, enough to be named an assistant coach for Team USA’s U-19 team. Maryland made sure to lock him down quickly.