Public Perception
having the lowest paid coach in the SEC? bipolar much?
Freeze already had a contract. He wasn't in danger of leaving. Nobody had to give him anything. He was already the lowest paid head coach. He already had incentives. They took away one SEC win and added $400k to make it look like half a million. It was just to please the fans more than the head coach. Youre telling your fans, recruits, and the rest of the nation, this is what we think our head coach is worth for his job this season. But this is his dream job, so money doesn't matter.
Basing my argument on all other recent SEC contracts reups, they pushed them significantly higher up the SEC pole- Mullen, Franklin, Spurrier. Mullen went from $1.2 mil to a little over $2.5 mil AND kept his incentives. Freeze can reach the SEC average if he takes them to the SEC championship game.
Nutt's contract was an obserdity. They gave him 7 years after the beginning. Plus they had to pay him a buyout whether they fired him or he quit. Razorback fans told them it was stupid. Then he left the program in worse shape than he found it.