Chip Hale will earn $500,000 plus bonuses in his first season as the Arizona Wildcats' baseball coach, with $5,000 escalators kicking in every year as part of his new, five-year contract.
The UA released Hale's contract details before introducing him Wednesday as Jay Johnson's successor. Johnson left the UA two weeks ago to take over LSU's program.
Hale, who signed his term sheet Tuesday, will make a base salary of $435,000 plus an additional $65,000 from Nike for a total of $500,000. Hale can earn as much as $182,500 more annually if the Wildcats reach academic and on-field milestones; he'll collect an additional $100,000 if the Wildcats win the College World Series. Hale's contract is still subject to approval by the Arizona Board of Regents.
Hale, 56, will also receive one country club membership; his choice of a company car or a $600-per-month stipend for one; 10 tickets for games at Hi Corbett Field; six tickets for road baseball games; and a pair of tickets to UA football, men's basketball and women's basketball games.
The UA will owe Hale 65% of his remaining salary if it moves to fire him, and Hale must pay the UA the same percentage should he choose to leave. Hale's contract includes offset language that will require him to look for a new job in baseball if fired; any money he makes would be subtracted from what the UA would owe him in termination pay.
Arizona hired Hale on Monday, hoping that the former Wildcats baseball star and longtime big-league coach can build off a season in which the UA won the Pac-12 Championship and advanced to the College World Series. Hale coached third base for the Detroit Tigers that night before flying to Tucson, where he has maintained a home for decades.
Hale's base salary is roughly in line with what the UA was set to pay Johnson before he left — though, had he stayed two more seasons, the coach would've collected an additional $350,000 as part of a "longevity fund" established to keep him in Tucson. Instead, Johnson became one of college baseball's richest coaches by bolting for LSU. His new contract is for five years and $6.5 million.
