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Here are the details of Western Michigan football coach Lance Taylor's contract

Tony Paul
The Detroit News

Western Michigan athletic director Dan Bartholomae didn't want to put a specific timeline on new head football coach Lance Taylor returning the program to great heights.

But Bartholomae and Taylor are at least starting at five years.

New Western Michigan head football coach Lance Taylor, left, and athletic director Dan Barthholomae met the media at Taylor's introduction news conference.

Taylor, the former offensive coordinator at Louisville who is a disciple of the Nick Saban and Brian Kelly coaching trees, has signed a five-year contract worth at least $850,000 a year to coach the Broncos.

The details of the contract include a $200,000 base salary, plus $325,000 each for radio and television appearances, and public-speaking engagements. Taylor's predecessor, Tim Lester, who was fired last month after six seasons, earned a little over $800,000 a year, though he did take a $200,000 pay cut for a year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Taylor, 41, becomes the second-highest-paid coach in the Mid-American Conference, behind only Toledo's Jason Candle, who earns more than $1 million. Central Michigan's Jim McElwain has a salary just below Taylor's.

Taylor can get his annual compensation close to $1 million with some modestly attainable bonuses in his contract, including $50,000 for winning a MAC championship and $50,000 for winning a bowl game. He also would receive $125,000 for winning a New Year's Six Bowl — Western Michigan made the Cotton Bowl in 2016, P.J. Fleck's last season before moving to Minnesota — and $150,000 for making the College Football Playoff, which will expand to 12 teams for the 2024 season, with the addition of a spot for the Group of 5 conferences. Taylor would receive another $100,000 for each CFP victory.

Bartholomae, in firing Lester, cited the CFP expansion and the doors it opens for schools like Western Michigan as a factor in making the change in leadership.

Bartholomae said he considers Western Michigan the best-positioned job in the MAC for sustained success.

"I do," he told The News last week after Taylor's introductory press conference. "I do think the resources, salary for coaches and assistants, facilities in that region. No one else is two hours from Chicago and two hours from Detroit. ... I mean, we're it, right? We're the program everybody can rally round. So I think it's the best job."

Taylor agrees, saying a conversation with his former boss at Notre Dame, Kelly, convinced him Western Michigan was a great job. Kelly coached against Western Michigan while he was head coach at Central Michigan, before moving to Cincinnati, Notre Dame and, now, LSU.

Western Michigan was 5-7 this past season, the only losing season on Lester's resume. He never won a MAC championship, however, and will receive a $500,000 buyout.

Like Bartholomae, Taylor didn't want to put a deadline on turning things around.

"I don't know when that will be, I don't want to put a timeline," Taylor said. "And I think we've got a lot of work to do. And I think Dan is committed to giving us all the resources, you know, that we need to be successful. But I'm really excited. I think our players are excited. And fans are obviously excited.

"And I don't think that we're that far away talent-wise."

Taylor's contract also includes bonuses for reaching eight wins, academic success, and home attendance numbers. He also gets a country-club membership, company car, cell phone, a home suite on football game days, travel to away games for his immediate family, and moving expenses.

Taylor emerged as Western Michigan's next head coach from a group of four finalists which included Cincinnati offensive coordinator Gino Guidugli, West Virginia OC Graham Harrell and Michigan running-backs coach Mike Hart.

The next couple of weeks will be a mad dash for Taylor, who must hire a staff and put together, or keep together, a recruiting class with the early signing period beginning Dec. 21.

On the staff front, Taylor has made one significant hire, retaining Western Michigan defensive coordinator Lou Esposito, one of Lester's first hires. Western Michigan gave up the second-fewest points per game and yards per game in the MAC this past season. Taylor is expected to look outside the program for an offensive coordinator, after the team posted the worst offense in the MAC under first-year coordinator Jeff Thorne, a long-time pal of Lester's.

Since Lester's firing, several key Western Michigan players, particularly on defense, have entered the transfer portal. This week, the team's top running back, Sean Tyler, committed to Oklahoma State, while the team's top receiver, Corey Crooms, and linebacker Ryan Selig have signed on to join Fleck at Minnesota. Taylor said he would have dialogue with players still in the portal, and he will be eager to lock down a 2023 recruiting class that is widely regarded as one of the best in the MAC.

"It's gonna take some time," said Bartholomae, who in less than a year on the job now has hired a new football coach and basketball coach (Dwayne Stephens). "I'm not gonna hold Coach to a certain amount of years."

tpaul@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @tonypaul1984