UConn Football: Randy Edsall Has Some Unique Contract Incentives

When Randy Edsall left to become the head coach at the University of Maryland, UConn football was sent into a spiraling descent. Fresh of the one and only BCS bowl game in the program’s history, the Huskies spent the next six years struggling under the leadership of head coaches Paul Pasqualoni and Bob Diaco.

UConn had a combined record of 24-49 since Edsall’s departure, and in an attempt to right the ship, they looked to the man who made UConn football relevant in the first place.

Edsall’s contract situation is weird to begin with. He hasn’t signed his contract yet due to the pending case regarding his son Corey being on staff. Edsall also has some incentives in there that are excessively specific and plentiful.

Win-total bonuses are commonplace. For each win, Edsall gets $10,000. Simple enough. For those keeping score at home, Edsall has earned a total of $10,000 this season as the Huskies are currently 1-4.

There’s also an end-of-season bonus for offensive and defensive point totals. Through the first five games, UConn is averaging 21.6 points per game and yielding 53.4 points per game to their opponents.

Both figures fall outside of the money for Edsall, but he could earn a points-for bonus with a few big games. Heck, if the Huskies drop at least 42 points on Memphis this weekend, Edsall will sneak into that $20,000 range.

A points-against bonus seems like a long shot, considering he’s 23.4 points above the lowest incentive already. The Huskies would need to shut out their next five opponents for Edsall to earn any money there.

This feels like a game, right? As SB Nation’s Morgan Moriaty put it, “Randy Edsall’s contract is basically just a prop bets sheet.”

That rings especially true with the $2,000 bonus options. I mean, Randy Edsall actually gets rewarded for scoring the first points of the game! Coin flips just got a lot more exciting.

With incentives set up around points per possession and halftime scores, it’s clear that UConn is desperate for any amount of success this year, even if the end result is still a loss. After a string of abysmal seasons, this makes some sense, but this contract is still funny.