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Contract details for new Florida State coach Willie Taggart

FSU’s new coach is set for a six-year deal.

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Southern Utah v Oregon Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images

On Tuesday, Willie Taggart officially was announced as Florida State’s new head football coach.

As mentioned on Monday night’s episode of The Nolecast, Taggart is due to be compensated $5 million a year over a period of six years.

After Taggart’s introductory press conference on Wednesday, further details of the new coach’s contract were revealed.

Taggart will receive $5.5 million to hire assistant coaches, and will be awarded bonuses in the following situations:

  • Win National Championship: 500,000
  • Make National Championship: 250,000
  • Make Playoffs: 250,000
  • Make New Year’s Six Bowl: 175,000
  • Make bowl with 7-plus wins: 100,000
  • Make bowl: 50,000
  • Win ACC Championship: 150,000
  • Make ACC Championship: 100,000
  • ACC Coach of the Year: 50,000
  • Undefeated Season: 100,000
  • National Coach of the Year: 75,000
  • Single Season APR over 950: 100,000, 975: 175,000, 990: 200,000, 1000: 250,000

Should the school fire him, Taggart’s FSU buyout is 85 percent of whatever compensation is remaining left on the contract, paid out over monthly intervals. So, for example, should Taggart not pan out by year three, he will be owed $13 million.

Florida State will pay Oregon the $3 million buyout that Taggart owes for leaving before Jan. 2018, in addition to the near-$1.4 million buyout that the Ducks paid to South Florida when they hired him.

The contract is reflective of the hires that have been made over the last few weeks. Dan Mullen, hired by the University of Florida, signed a six-year deal worth $36 million while recent Nebraska hire Scott Frost received a seven-year, $35 million contract.

Taggart’s deal, while lucrative, is also a blessing considering what Florida State was on the hook for before Jimbo Fisher left for Texas A&M. While the school should now be getting somewhere between $5-6 million in compensation from its former coach due to his departure, it was previously handcuffed to what amounted to a near-$40 million buyout.