When Grambling hired former NFL head coach Hue Jackson last January, the storied SWAC school got creative with his contract.
Jackson’s five-year deal pays him a base salary of $400,000 annually and includes familiar bonus opportunities for accomplishments, such as winning a conference division title or earning coach-of-the-year recognition.
But the employment agreement also contains a highly unusual arrangement for a college coach, wherein Jackson would earn 25% of any new monies he brings into the university through promotions, sponsorships or other initiatives. The clause followed in the footsteps of what Jackson State did for Deion Sanders; the previous head coach’s contract stated that he receive 10% of all football home-game ticket sales in excess of 10,000.
Jackson’s revenue-sharing incentive, a year into his head-coaching tenure, has yet to bear any fruit for either the coach or the school. That was confirmed last week by Grambling State athletic director Trayvean Scott, after Sportico made a public records request for any documentation showing what, if any, bonuses had been paid per Section 3.7 in his contract.
Scott did not respond to multiple requests for further comment, nor did Jackson or two university spokespersons.
According to Grambling’s most recent NCAA revenue and expense report, Jackson received total compensation of $783,585 in 2022, inclusive of all bonuses and benefits. For that same year, the school reported earning $385,583 in football donations, an increase over the $273,987 the program reported for the pandemic-constrained year (2021) prior to Jackson taking the helm. The previous head coach, Broderick Fobbs, was in the middle of a four-year contract extension, which paid him a base salary of $319,000, when he was fired in November 2021.
In 2022, before hiring Jackson, Grambling had reportedly set its sights on former NFL All-Pro safety Ed Reed, who last month was named Bethune-Cookman’s head coach but who has since walked away from that job after the deal fell apart during contract negotiations.
Jackson struggled through his maiden campaign at Grambling, which finished this past season with a 3-8 record. Last February, Jackson hired disgraced former Baylor football coach Art Briles as Grambling’s offensive coordinator; Briles resigned a few days later amid a media firestorm.
