Ducks Coach Contract Provides Lots of Incentive - $1.475 Million Worth

If new University of Oregon football coach Willie Taggert works all five years of his newly approved contract, he will take home a minimum of $16 million. He has a chance millions more over the course of the contract thanks to incentives.

Taggert, who was officially introduced Thursday to take over for Mark Helfrich who was fired last week, comes from the University of South Florida where he made $1.7 million.

In his first year with the Ducks, Taggert will be paid $2.9 million. That will increase by $150,00 per year to: $3.05 million the second year, $3.2 million the third year, $3.35 million the fourth year, and $3.5 million the fifth year.

The contract provides lots of incentives for Taggert, providing bonuses to linked to a number of items ranging from how many wins he gets to how his students do academically, to things like winning the Pac 12 North Division, the Pac 12 Championship, and the national championship.

He will also receive two courtesy cars that he will be allowed to drive for personal use. The university will also provide him family memberships to the Downtown Athletic Club and the Eugene Country Club.

He will receive 12 tickets to each of the Duck's football home games and four tickets for each home game for other Duck sports. He'll also have use of a premium level skybox. The school will also pay for his wife and kids to travel to away post-season games.

If Taggert quits for another job before the end of January, 2018, he will owe the school $3 million. That number drops $500,000 each year after that. If he gets fired without cause, Oregon will owe him 60 percent of his remaining salary.

INCENTIVES (ANNUAL)

• Single-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) of 985 or greater: $100,000
• Bowl Participation (one per season/not cumulative):
• CFP National Championship Game: $250,000
• CFP Semi-Final: $200,000
• CFP Bowl (other than CFP semi-final): $175,000
• Any Other Bowl (must have 7 regular season wins): $100,000
• Any Other Bowl (irrespective of regular season wins): $25,000

• Win CFP National Championship Game: $500,000
• Win PAC 12 Championship: $150,000
• Win PAC 12 North Division: $100,000
• 9 Regular Season Wins: $100,000
• 10 Regular Season Wins: $100,000
• 11 Regular Season Wins: $200,000
• 12 Regular Season Wins: $250,000
• PAC 12 Conference Coach of the Year: $25,000
• AP or Walter Camp National Coach of the Year: $50,000

"I don't feel any pressure," said Taggert at the Thursday press conference. "It's our job to win. I've never had the opportunity to have the kind of resources we have here."

Taggert takes for a team that is coming off one of its worst seasons in years - one that ended with what the Ducks considered a humiliating loss to their rivals, the Beavers of Oregon State. It was tough for Ducks fans who have seen their team play for the national championship twice in the past six years - most recently just two years ago.

Taggert says he believes that he can get the team back there - that the opportunity to do so is one of the reasons he took the job.

"That was important to me," he said. "And there's no reason for us not to."

He said it won't happen overnight, that it will take some patience, but "we've got to have progress within that patience, to get where you want to go."

Taggert used the press conference to also set high expectations for his players, mentioning several times that he expected them to "excel in the classroom and graduate on time."

Taggert also spent about 20 minutes meeting with Ducks players.

"I'm excited," said Justin Herbert, the quarterback who led the team last season as a true freshman. "He seems like he knows what he's doing. He's very enthusiastic, and I think he's going to be a great leader."

Photo University of Oregon