The Arizona Board of Regents will vote next week on whether to approve for UA coach Sean Miller a one-year contract extension through 2020 and an accelerated vesting plan on a booster-initiated retention fund.
Pending Regent approval, Miller will get a $100,000 salary increase for the additional year of 2019-20 as well as the ability to begin vesting in the booster-initiated, stock-based plan the Regents approved a year ago.
The booster-initiated plan, which set aside to Miller $6.19 million worth of stock value as of last May, initially allowed Miller the full amount only if he did not leave voluntarily for eight years (or if he stayed at least four years but was fired without cause after that).
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Under the new plan, Miller will be 25-percent vested as of next year and half-vested in 2018, and the entire amount will be available to him as of June 1, 2020 if he leaves for any reason.
If Miller stays until 2016, he'll also receive the full amount of his other retention plan -- the $2.1 million fund UA has been setting aside for him at a rate of $300,000 per year. So if he left in July 2016, that means he could take home about $3.5 million in total retention bonuses plus his $2.5 million in guaranteed pay for next season.
The details of the proposal to the Regents over Miller's contract can be found here, and the exhibits at the end detail the extra compensation Miller was paid in 2014-15 (he earned $345,000 in bonuses and $411,000 from Nike and IMG.)
A proposal for UA football coach Rich Rodriguez has somewhat similar language with the longevity plan -- although he gets cash payments instead of just vesting in 2016, 2018 and 2020 -- while his salary will be increased and bonuses decreased.
