Dogs, Herrmann work out compensation

Athens — Georgia and the Bulldogs’ men’s basketball interim coach Pete Herrmann have reached an agreement on compensation for his additional responsibilities.

Herrmann, who assumed the duties of head coach after Dennis Felton was fired Jan. 29, will receive an additional six months of pay — $69,839 — plus one year’s insurance coverage, according to an amendment letter obtained by the Journal-Constitution via an open-records request. The two parties agreed to terms Thursday.

Herrmann, 60, was already guaranteed six months pay beyond his date of termination, which remains undetermined, under the terms of his existing one-year contractual agreement as Georgia’s associate head coach. That contract guarantees him a yearly salary of $139,678.

But Georgia officials felt Herrmann deserved additional compensation for the extra time and effort he has taken on as interim head coach.

Herrmann was asked after Thursday’s practice whether he felt it was a fair deal.

“I guess it is. I don’t know. It’s really uncharted waters,” said Herrmann, who handled the negotiations himself. “But I’m not doing this for money. I’m doing it because it needed to be done and because I care about these kids. I’m a coach. It’s what I do.”

And he has been doing a good job of it.

Georgia had gone winless in its first five SEC games when Felton was fired after a Jan. 28 loss at Florida. Herrmann has since led the Bulldogs to three victories, including home victories over Florida and Vanderbilt and Wednesday night’s 90-85 stunner over Kentucky at Rupp Arena. Georgia is 3-7 overall under his guidance.

The Bulldogs (12-18, 3-12 SEC) play host to South Carolina in the regular-season finale at 2 p.m. Saturday.

“First of all, I’m very appreciative of Pete stepping into a difficult situation, and we all need to remember that it’s a very difficult situation,” Georgia athletics director Damon Evans said. “He’s handled it well. He’s handled it professionally, and he’s gotten us some big wins, too. I’m glad we could work out something as far as compensation. I think it’s appropriate, fair and well-deserved.”

Herrmann was coach at Navy from 1980-86 and at Midlakes High in New York from 1975-80, but he has spent the majority of his 39 years in the game as an assistant coach, including stints at Kansas State, Virginia and Western Kentucky.

He said he wants to continue to coach.

“It’s a young man’s game, but I still feel like a young man,” Herrmann said.