Tech’s Johnson gets 53 percent pay raise

Even before Georgia Tech approached coach Paul Johnson about renegotiating his contract only a year into the deal, he said he was happy at his job.

A 53 percent raise should remove any doubt.

Georgia Tech dug deep into its wallet to apparently make Johnson the highest-paid coach in the ACC. A year after he signed a seven-year contract worth about $1.6 million annually, Johnson received a new deal that was made official Thursday. It added another year and increased his pay to an annual average of about $2.45 million.

Said Johnson, “I’m very appreciative to [athletics director Dan Radakovich] and everybody involved.”

After the Jackets beat Clemson, Florida State, Miami and Georgia on the way to a 9-3 season, Tech has made a statement about its confidence in and commitment to Johnson only a year after arriving from Navy.

Johnson will earn more than Florida State’s Bobby Bowden (33 seasons as head coach, 27 consecutive bowls, 12 ACC titles) and Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer (22 seasons as head coach, three ACC titles, three Big East titles).

Said Radakovich, “In looking at [the athletic association’s budget], one of the ways we can invest money and hopefully get a great return on it is in our football program being led by Paul.”

Market forces were at work. With a young roster and new offensive and defensive schemes being put in place, Tech was picked to finish fourth in the ACC Coastal Division. The Jackets tied for a share of the division title, however, and has a No. 14 BCS ranking, highest among ACC teams. Johnson was named ACC coach of the year.

As a result, Auburn was interested in Johnson before hiring Gene Chizik from Iowa State, according to published reports.

Jack Reale, Johnson’s agent, said that negotiations “went probably quicker than one would normally expect because of the other situations that were out there.”

In the amended contract, Johnson will be required to pay Tech $1 million if he leaves after the first year of the contract, increased from $750,000. The buyout in remaining years was raised from $500,000 to $750,000.

Considering the salary increase, it was not a steep hike. North Carolina coach Butch Davis makes a reported $2.2 million, and his initial buyout is $2 million, for example.

Said Radakovich of the buyout price, “It’s OK for me, it’s OK for our president, it’s OK for Paul.”

The contract doesn’t necessarily mean that ticket prices at Bobby Dodd Stadium will increase in 2009. Athletics department officials have been considering different pricing models for tickets and requisite Tech Fund donations for several months. The total of tickets and donation might actually decrease in certain parts of the stadium but increase in others.

However, Radakovich said, “We’ve got to go out and hustle a little bit and do some things, but that’s part of my job.”

Johnson’s assistants also will receive raises. Radakovich said he believed that the budget for assistant salaries will increase about 10 to 15 percent, from about $1.4 or $1.5 million.

Johnson is a long way from his days at Lees-McRae College in 1981, when he made $100 a week in his first college coaching job. Tech is likewise entering a new era. Radakovich said he had lunch Thursday with Homer Rice, Tech’s longtime AD and a former coach.

Said Radakovich, “I think he said he was going to see if he could get a coaching job.”