COLOMBIA, SC – New South Carolina coach Shane Beamer has been awarded a five-year contract worth $ 13.75 million.
Beamer, 43, was appointed to replace Will Muschamp who was fired earlier this month. Beamer’s contract was approved by the South Carolina Board of Trustees on Tuesday.
Beamer will earn $ 2.75 million per season with a base salary of $ 1.1 million and guaranteed compensation of $ 1.65 million from foreign rights holders.
The head coach for the first time can obtain various bonuses, depending on the team’s game, ranging from $ 200,000 for reaching the Southeast Conference title game to $ 1 million for winning the national championship.
The university owed Beamer 65% of its annual salary – about $ 1.78 million – for each year remaining in the contract if she closed the deal without cause.
Beamer would also owe the school if he chose to leave before the end of the deal, paying $ 7 million if he went next year with the amount reduced by $ 1 million per season for the duration of the contract.
South Carolina owes Muschamp about $ 16 million to buy his contract, which was three years old when he was fired in November.
Beamer has been an assistant in Oklahoma for the past three seasons and is with the Sooners preparing for the Big 12 Championship game this week.
Beamer is expected to return to South Carolina soon afterwards and be with the team if the Gamecocks participate in a game of bowling.
The Gamecocks finished 2-8 in the all-SEC season, losing six consecutive games to end the season.
Beamer, son of former Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, was a South Carolina assistant under Steve Spurrier from 2007-10. The Gamecocks won their only SEC Eastern Division title in 2010, Beamer’s last year on the team.