The major points of Kirby Smart’s employment agreement with Georgia were agreed upon and announced when he signed a memo of understanding shortly before stepping onto the podium to be named the Bulldogs’ new coach in December.
At that point, his deal looked remarkably similar to that of his predecessor Mark Richt.
But six months later, the contract Smart signed shows some subtle differences in the employment agreements for the two coaches. And some not so subtle.
Smart’s contract — executed in late May — was turned over to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week in compliance with an opens-record request.
The biggest difference is Smart’s contract includes the controversial “conduct and ethics clause.” That condition was a major sticking point for Richt and his representation after he agreed to a raise and new contract in January 2015.
In fact, Richt never signed that last deal. So technically he operated under the guidelines of the contract he signed in 2012. Ultimately, though, UGA honored the handshake agreement and paid Richt based on the agreed-upon increased compensation — $4 million – when it fired him on Nov. 29.
But while Richt never signed off on that clause, Smart did.
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