GTmorris1970
02-24-2006, 03:31 AM
Posted on Fri, Feb. 24, 2006
USC’s AD working without a contract
Hyman, who came to USC in July, says incentives package is the holdup
By JOSEPH PERSON Staff Writer
Nearly eight months after taking over as South Carolina’s athletics director, Eric Hyman still has not signed a contract with the university.
When Hyman was introduced as Mike McGee’s successor in April, the school announced that Hyman had agreed to a five-year contract worth a guaranteed $455,000 a year, with to-be-determined incentives that could push the package to $530,000 annually. The deal includes a buyout clause that would require the school or Hyman to pay $325,000 per year for the remaining years if either side breaks the contract before June 30, 2010.
While Hyman has received regular paychecks since starting at USC on July 1, he said Thursday that he has been working without an executed contract.
“It hasn’t been brought to appropriate closure,” Hyman said following USC’s board of trustees meeting. “It hasn’t been finalized.”
Hyman said the two sides are in agreement on the financial terms but have not come together on the incentive clauses. Hyman said he and university officials have exchanged drafts concerning the incentives, but he has not seen the final draft.
The 55-year-old Hyman, who came to USC following a seven-year stint at Texas Christian University, said he believes university officials have been negotiating in good faith.
“I have a five-year contract,” Hyman said. “Because it’s been approved by the board, even though there’s not a signature, there’s a commitment.”
USC president Andrew Sorensen, who conducted a national search for the new athletics director, praised his handpicked successor to McGee.
“He’s doing an outstanding job,” Sorensen said. “We’re in 100 percent agreement on the terms of his service.”
USC spokesman Russ McKinney said he expected Hyman’s contract to be finalized “in the very near future.”
Berson receives extension. USC men’s soccer coach Mark Berson, who started the program in 1978, received a two-year contract extension through the 2009 season. Berson, who did not get a raise, has a 380-143-45 record and has guided the Gamecocks to the NCAA Tournament in 18 of 28 years.
USC won the Conference USA tournament this past fall in the team’s first year in the league.
Bonus baby. Gamecocks football coach Steve Spurrier will get his coach-of-the-year bonus, after all. Spurrier was named the SEC’s top coach by the Associated Press after leading USC to a 7-5 record and an Independence Bowl berth in his first season.
Spurrier’s contract called for a $50,000 bonus for winning Coach of the Year in voting by the conference’s coaches and made no mention of the AP honor. USC’s board agreed to amend the contract so Spurrier would receive a $25,000 bonus for each of the awards.
More contractual matters. USC’s three new football assistants — Brad Lawing, Robert Gillespie and Fred Chatham — would be paid for only three additional months should Spurrier resign or get fired.
Typically, assistants are paid the remainder of their contracts after a head coach leaves. USC spent $600,000 to buy out the contracts of two of Lou Holtz’s assistants — Skip Holtz and Dave Roberts — after Holtz retired in 2004.
“Let’s say you have a coach who retires and you’ve got (an assistant with) a two- or three-year contract. Is that fair?” said Hyman, who added the termination clause. “I want to be reasonable about things.”
Staff writer James Hammond contributed to this report. Reach Person at (803) 771-8496 or jperson@
USC’s AD working without a contract
Hyman, who came to USC in July, says incentives package is the holdup
By JOSEPH PERSON Staff Writer
Nearly eight months after taking over as South Carolina’s athletics director, Eric Hyman still has not signed a contract with the university.
When Hyman was introduced as Mike McGee’s successor in April, the school announced that Hyman had agreed to a five-year contract worth a guaranteed $455,000 a year, with to-be-determined incentives that could push the package to $530,000 annually. The deal includes a buyout clause that would require the school or Hyman to pay $325,000 per year for the remaining years if either side breaks the contract before June 30, 2010.
While Hyman has received regular paychecks since starting at USC on July 1, he said Thursday that he has been working without an executed contract.
“It hasn’t been brought to appropriate closure,” Hyman said following USC’s board of trustees meeting. “It hasn’t been finalized.”
Hyman said the two sides are in agreement on the financial terms but have not come together on the incentive clauses. Hyman said he and university officials have exchanged drafts concerning the incentives, but he has not seen the final draft.
The 55-year-old Hyman, who came to USC following a seven-year stint at Texas Christian University, said he believes university officials have been negotiating in good faith.
“I have a five-year contract,” Hyman said. “Because it’s been approved by the board, even though there’s not a signature, there’s a commitment.”
USC president Andrew Sorensen, who conducted a national search for the new athletics director, praised his handpicked successor to McGee.
“He’s doing an outstanding job,” Sorensen said. “We’re in 100 percent agreement on the terms of his service.”
USC spokesman Russ McKinney said he expected Hyman’s contract to be finalized “in the very near future.”
Berson receives extension. USC men’s soccer coach Mark Berson, who started the program in 1978, received a two-year contract extension through the 2009 season. Berson, who did not get a raise, has a 380-143-45 record and has guided the Gamecocks to the NCAA Tournament in 18 of 28 years.
USC won the Conference USA tournament this past fall in the team’s first year in the league.
Bonus baby. Gamecocks football coach Steve Spurrier will get his coach-of-the-year bonus, after all. Spurrier was named the SEC’s top coach by the Associated Press after leading USC to a 7-5 record and an Independence Bowl berth in his first season.
Spurrier’s contract called for a $50,000 bonus for winning Coach of the Year in voting by the conference’s coaches and made no mention of the AP honor. USC’s board agreed to amend the contract so Spurrier would receive a $25,000 bonus for each of the awards.
More contractual matters. USC’s three new football assistants — Brad Lawing, Robert Gillespie and Fred Chatham — would be paid for only three additional months should Spurrier resign or get fired.
Typically, assistants are paid the remainder of their contracts after a head coach leaves. USC spent $600,000 to buy out the contracts of two of Lou Holtz’s assistants — Skip Holtz and Dave Roberts — after Holtz retired in 2004.
“Let’s say you have a coach who retires and you’ve got (an assistant with) a two- or three-year contract. Is that fair?” said Hyman, who added the termination clause. “I want to be reasonable about things.”
Staff writer James Hammond contributed to this report. Reach Person at (803) 771-8496 or jperson@