A subset of hardcore Appalachian State Mountaineers fans grumbled about their head coach for years, but Shawn Clark has blocked out the noise. With a 39-23 record, Clark is one of the elder statesmen of the Sun Belt conference.
Now in his fifth full season in charge of the Boone program, Clark has had ample time to turn the team into his own, but a porous run defense has plagued his tenure. Let’s look at Clark’s salary, contract length, and net worth as the Mountaineers’ head coach.
Shawn Clark’s Salary and Contract in 2024
While Clark has a guaranteed annual salary ($425,000) on the low end for an FBS coach, his contract is unique in that he has a monthly retention bonus ($22,085) and an annual personality rights payment ($260,000) that pushes his actual salary to nearly $1 million.
Weirdly, Clark’s contract hasn’t changed much since he was hired after the 2019 season.
It was restructured in 2021 after the Mountaineers finished 10-3, but he hasn’t had a major shakeup in either salary or terms of his contract in the five years he’s been at the helm.
At that 2021 restructuring, the salary stayed the same while the personality rights and monthly retention bonuses ticked up. He was also extended through the 2026 season, tacking on two years to his contract.
That retention bonus was increased by about $85,000 a year, from $15,000 a month to its current standing at $22,085. If Clark remains the head coach through the life of the contract, that retention bonus will net him approximately $600,000.
Clark’s personality rights payment also increased, and it has increased slightly every year. It was increased by $15,000 a year in 2021, with an additional $25,000 increase for each subsequent season written into the deal.
That nets Clark $260,000 for 2024. If he stays through 2026, his personality rights payments will net an additional $595,000 over the next two seasons. When factoring those additional payments in, Clark would be paid $4.75 million from 2021 to the expiration of the contract in 2026.
Clark’s 2024 salary is as follows:
- 2024 base salary: $425,000
- Monthly retention bonus: $22,085 ($265,020 annually)
- 2024 personality rights payment: $260,000
- Total: $950,020
Clark’s contract isn’t as incentive-laden as other coaches. He can make a maximum of $455,000 in bonuses if he hits all of the benchmarks, which at 4-5, he will not.
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While Clark can hit all of the GPA and APR requirements, plus the Mountaineers played at Clemson, most of the other accomplishments are already out of reach, outside of the potential $75,000 for winning out and winning a bowl game to get to eight wins.
- Team’s APR equal or greater to 950: $20,000
- Team GPA above 3.0: $12,500
- Team GPA above 2.7: $7,500
- Home game ticket sales increase 5% or more: $15,000
- P5 road game on schedule: $20,000
- Win eight games:$25,000
- Win nine games: $35,000
- Sun Belt Championship appearance: $30,000
- Sun Belt Championship win: $60,000
- Non-New Year’s Six bowl appearance: $30,000
- Non-New Year’s Six bowl win: $20,000
- New Year’s Six bowl appearance: $30,000
- New Year’s Six bowl win: $15,000
- College Football Playoff appearance: $75,000
- College Football Playoff win: $50,000
- National Championship: $75,000
- Sun Belt or National Coach of the Year: $25,000
*Contract terms agreed before new College Football Playoff format announced
Clark’s Net Worth
If Clark stays for the entirety of his contract and hits every remaining incentive, his current contract would net him $7,025,100. He was paid $750,000 in 2020 and $775,000 in 2021 for his first two seasons as Appalachian State’s head coach. That would make the deal worth $8,550,100 over its entirety.
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A long-time assistant, Clark made an additional $1,384,343, averaging out to $125,849 annually from 2009-2019. His net worth, given that some of his past salaries are not public record, could be in the $8-10 million range.
What is Clark’s Potential Buyout?
Unlike many schools, Clark doesn’t have a specific buyout tied to his contract numbers. The university prefers to have round numbers for his buyout both if he leaves for another school and if he’s ultimately fired.
While the updated buyout numbers are unavailable after the 2021 extension, we have numbers from the original contract that we can extrapolate out to the additional years tacked on.
In the original contract, Clark was to be owed $5 million if fired before Jan. 1 of the year starting his third-to-final year on his contract (in that case, 2021). That number dropped to $3 million if less than three years remained and $1.5 million if fired with two years remaining. The extension reset those dates to Dec. 1 to better reflect the recruiting calendar.
If those numbers are the same, that means Clark would be owed $3 million if fired before Dec. 1 and $1.5 million if fired after. So, if you expect Appalachian State to move on, it won’t be until after the conclusion of the 2024 season.
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