Oregon State Beavers reward football coach Jonathan Smith with 6-year, $30.6 million contract

Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith has improved the team's record each season, with the exception of the 2020 pandemic year, during his five-year tenure. (File)
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Oregon State’s Jonathan Smith became one of the Pac-12′s highest paid football coaches Sunday afternoon when the school announced a significant pay increase.

Smith’s contract was fattened to $30.6 million over six years, an increase of $6.5 million from the previous deal. The reworked contract comes two weeks after the No. 14 Beavers finished a 9-3 regular season, their best in a decade.

Smith’s new contract, which runs through the 2028 season, will pay him a salary of $4.85 million for 2023 and he’ll receive $100,000 increases over the following five years, ending with $5.35 million in 2028.

Under the terms of Smith’s previous contract, he would have been paid $3.85 million next season. Part of that compensation is a $500,000 stipend for a life insurance policy.

At $4.85 million, Smith will rank fifth in salary among Pac-12 coaches in 2023. Oregon’s Dan Lanning ($4.7 million) and California’s Justin Wilcox ($4.625 million) are among the Pac-12 coaches he will pass with the new deal.

In addition to his salary increase, Smith’s deal calls for a boost to the assistant coaches salary pool, from $4.25 million to $4.85 million. The pool will increase by $100,000 each year through 2028. The salary pool for the OSU support staff will also rise to $2.5 million, a $300,000 bump from 2022.

The assistant coaches and support staff pools will then increase $100,000 each year through 2028.

In total, Oregon State is committing $12.2 million in salaries to Smith, his assistant coaches and the Beavers’ support staff next season.

Smith earned $3.9 million this season, including bonuses for beating Oregon, qualifying for a bowl game, winning nine regular season games and earning Pac-12 coach of the year honors.

Smith was slated to earn $3.85 million next season. His new salary for 2023 will feature an increase of $1 million.

Smith’s new buyout is $3 million should he leave Oregon State in 2023. The buyout decreases by $500,000 each year through 2028. If Smith is terminated without cause, Oregon State owes him 65 percent of what remains on the contract.

Not counting the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, OSU has improved its record each year under Smith. The Beavers were 2-10 in 2018, 5-7 in 2019, 7-6 in 2021 and 9-3 this season. OSU landed back-to-back bowl appearances for the first time since 2012-13. Smith’s roster went from two all-conference players in 2018 to a school-record 19 this season.

Oregon State will complete the 2022 season this week in the Las Vegas Bowl. The Beavers are scheduled to leave Monday for Las Vegas, where they’ll play Florida Saturday at Allegiant Stadium at 11:30 a.m.

Here are how the Pac-12 coaches rank in salary for 2023:

Lincoln Riley, USC: $10M (estimated, private school)

Kyle Whittingham, Utah: $6.2M

Chip Kelly, UCLA: $5.75M

Deion Sanders, Colorado: $5.5M

Jonathan Smith, Oregon State: $4.85M

Dan Lanning, Oregon: $4.7M

Justin Wilcox, California: $4.625M

Kalen DeBoer, Washington: $4.2M

Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State: $3.85M

Jedd Fisch, Arizona: $2.85M

Jacob Dickert, Washington State: $2.7M

Troy Taylor, Stanford: unknown (hired Saturday)

--Nick Daschel | ndaschel@oregonian.com | @nickdaschel

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