San Diego State and former football coach Brady Hoke have agreed to a severance package totaling $3.5 million — $1.3 million less than what was initially dictated by the terms of his contract.
The three-page document obtained by the Union-Tribune was signed Nov. 27, two weeks after Hoke and the university announced he would not be returning for the 2024 season.
The university has framed Hoke’s departure as a retirement. However, Item 1 of the addendum reads that effective Dec. 1, 2023, Hoke “is relieved from his duties and responsibilities as Head Coach-Football.”
Promising more points and excitement, SDSU hired Colorado offensive coordinator Sean Lewis as Hoke’s replacement last week. Lewis’ five-year contract will pay a base of $1.75 million plus incentives, along with $100,000 in annual escalators, according to a Memorandum of Understanding obtained by the Union-Tribune.
Hoke will remain an SDSU employee through June 30, 2027, according to the document he signed. Item 6 of the addendum states that Hoke “shall remain available to consult as requested by the University from Dec. 1, 2023, through the term of his appointment.”
Hoke’s original contract called for him to receive his full salary through June 30, 2027 — nearly $4.8 million — if he was terminated or reassigned.
The reassignment clause in the original contract Hoke signed on Dec. 1, 2020, was key in providing leverage to reduce the payout. Section 5.01 (d) states “the University will provide Employee with a description of the duties in the reassigned position.”
That means Hoke could have been required to do something he didn’t want to do — for 3 1/2 years.
Such leverage was also used when two previous SDSU football coaches — Denny Stolz in 1988 and Chuck Long in 2008 — were fired and the sides could not come to settlement agreements.
San Diego State coach Brady Hoke watches his players during their game against Fresno State.
(Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Stolz, who was making $64,000 a year, was reassigned as the Aztecs men’s golf coach for the three years remaining on his contract.
Long stayed at the school for more than a year after he was dismissed as coach, doing “projects and analysis” in order to receive his $715,900 annual salary. The sides then reached an agreement that stated Long would receive his salary minus any compensation he received from another job. Long was hired as the offensive coordinator at Kansas, which paid him — and saved SDSU — $350,000.
The tradeoff for not being reassigned is that Hoke’s supplemental base pay was decreased, whittling $1.3 million off his compensation. The settlement also allows SDSU to spread out its payments through 2027 rather than pay a lump-sum buyout.
SDSU athletic director John David Wicker said three weeks ago that the severance money would “come out of athletic department dollars.”
There could be further savings for SDSU should Hoke be employed elsewhere. Item 2 of the addendum includes a clause that states any compensation owed to Hoke “will be offset and deducted by any earnings from this alternative employment.”
