ATLANTA — Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart is no stranger to incentive bonuses when it comes to his football team's excellent play over the past few seasons.
Smart has already racked up numerous bonuses from winning several SEC Championships, two national championships and multiple College Football Playoff semifinal games.
If Kirby and the Dawgs beat Alabama on Saturday, the head ball coach is set to earn a generous $300,000 bonus.
But he'll still get rewarded just for his team being in the game, and he also has an opportunity for more incentive bonuses later this season.
You can see that breakdown below:
How Kirby Smart's bonus structure works
- Smart is eligible for two separate payments, one based on SEC achievements and the other one based on general postseason achievements.
- His bonus payout is capped at $1.3 million based on those two potential payments.
- He would get either $100,000 in a given year for reaching the SEC Championship Game or $300,000 for winning it (his contract is structured with either/or bonuses in this case - so he would get $100,000 for reaching the game and then an additional $200,000 for winning it, not $400,000. If Georgia wins the SEC Championship, that $300,000 would be money in Smart's pocket).
After that, here's the specific breakdown for postseason achievements:
- $50,000 if Georgia goes to the Birmingham or Independence Bowl
- $75,000 if Georgia plays in one of six other bowls: Gator, ReliaQuest (formerly Outback), Duke's Mayo (formerly Belk), Music City, Texas or Liberty
- $100,000 if Georgia plays in the Citrus Bowl
- $175,000 if Georgia plays in a New Year's Six bowl that isn't part of the Playoff that year (Sugar, Rose, Orange, Cotton, Fiesta, Peach)
- $500,000 for playing in one of those bowls for the College Football Playoff semifinal
- $750,000 for winning the semifinal and going to the National Championship Game
- $1 million for winning the National Championship Game
Again, these are not cumulative. If Georgia reaches a New Year's Six bowl, Smart will not receive the compensation for the other bowl game bonuses that he surpassed.
Here's a look at the contract provision itself:
Smart is already making just a bit over $10 million this year -- making $600,000 with his base salary, $6.4 million as "media compensation" for his obligations to radio and TV services and $3.5 million as "compensation for his equipment endorsement efforts."
