More than a year after being hired at New Mexico State, head football coach Jerry Kill finally signed his contract last month, the university announced Tuesday.
He had worked a full regular season in 2022 without an initial signed contract, which was unusual and carried risks for both parties. as USA TODAY Sports reported in November. NMSU sporting director Mario Moccia says “the extended deadline to sign was never about additional compensation”.
Rather, he said, it was because Kill “wanted to ensure that NM State athletics and the university were committed to specific infrastructure items that had long been overlooked being addressed quickly. to ensure the best chance of long-term success for the football programme”.
This included Kill’s desire to have a certain parking lot paved over, which is currently a dirt parking lot by the NMSU football offices, Moccia confirmed to USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday.
Kill finished with a 7-6 record in his first season in 2022, including a 24-19 win over Bowling Green in the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit Dec. 26. He didn’t sign his original contract with NMSU until December. 21, which was not announced by the university at the time as the team prepared for the bowling game.
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The university previously said Kill was still paid $550,000 for his first year on the job, even though he was not working under a signed contract. He is expected to earn $600,000 in 2023, with further escalators and incentives through 2027.
As Moccia mentioned, Kill used his influence as a freshman coach to win a number of infrastructure deals. They’re spelled out in Kill’s contract to incentivize upgrades to a program that’s been one of the toughest places to win in college football. Since 1972, NMSU has had 10 non-interim head coaches before Kill, nine of whom were fired.
The contract provides for the installation of a new video card, a new home changing room and an artificial turf training pitch before the first home game of 2024. It also provides for the paving of the “parking 35” of NMSU ahead of that first home game. of 2024.
If these improvements do not occur by then, the contract states that Kill can leave his contract voluntarily without having to pay the university for damages. Otherwise, he would usually have to go to college for half of what’s left on his contract after Feb. 1. 1st 2024, although he can also leave voluntarily before that date without paying such damages.
“I have no idea if the parking lot will be paved by then,” Moccia said in an email Tuesday. “The turf and dressing room will be finished by then. We are working on securing funding for the scoreboard and will know by the end of March.”
Kill’s contract also gives him some protection as to who his boss will be and says he can leave without penalty to accept a full-time assistant coaching job at another major college football program. If Moccia leaves for any reason and he is not replaced by Moccia’s current assistant, Braun Cartwright, Kill can also leave his job without penalty.
Kill who has struggled with health issues and previously coached at Minnesota, he has already earned at least two contract bonuses — $25,000 for seven wins in 2022 and $10,000 for a win over arch-rival New Mexico.
NMSU was 2-10 in 2021, before Kill’s hiring was announced in late November 2021. The 2022 season was the Aggies’ first winning season since 2017, which was also the last time the football program was affiliated with a conference. The Aggies will join Conference USA in July after being independent in football since then.
“I appreciate the State of New Mexico and the administration, but more than that, I love the players and Las Cruces,” Kill said in a statement released Tuesday. “We are nowhere near where we are going to be. However, we are building facilities and doing what it takes to be successful as we move into Conference USA.”
Follow journalist Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
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