I don't know if Jim Calhoun is going to retire. You don't either, and I suspect we won't find out for certain for at least a month, maybe longer as he contemplates his future. As we all know, Calhoun just finished up the second year of a five-year contract (yes, he signed it last year, but the first year was retroactive). However, that contract was written with an eye toward Calhoun's eventual departure. As a result, there is a very interesting provision in the contract that might be worth keeping in mind.
Here's the wording from the contract:
Upon Coach Calhoun's resignation or retirement from the head coaching position at UConn, he will receive either a one-time payment of $1,000,000 or secure employment in a full-time position in the University Division of Athletics for a maximum of five years at an annual salary of $300,000.
It also appears again later, in a more fleshed-out form:
Upon the Coach's resignation or retirement in good standing from the head coaching position at UConn (any time after the 2010-11 season), he will receive either a one-time payment of $1,000,000 or secure employment in a full-time position in the University Division of Athletics for a maximum of five years (10-month annual term) at an annual salary of $300,000 and duties determined by the Director of Athletics.
Does that mean Calhoun will retire this year? Of course not, but it does mean that if he decides he wants to step away he can maintain a very real and rather lucrative connection to the university (for the record, Calhoun made $2.3 million this year and that only goes up, but still). No where in the contract is the meaning of a "full-time position in the University Division of Athletics" spelled out, but it's easy to imagine it as an ambassador for the program, a fundraiser, advisor and perhaps most importantly, the type of position that could give him a lot of control over who the next head coach of UConn might be.
We'll be talking a lot more about Calhoun's future in the coming weeks and laying out what the plusses and minuses might be both for his future and the school's, but it's good to keep in mind that even if Calhoun isn't the coach next year, that won't mean he's not at UConn. He built this program and you can be sure he'll be involved in its next step.