UNLV signs Chris Beard to a five-year, $5 million deal

Chris Beard has been announced as the UNLV head coach but his contract is not officially in place. All that is left seems to be a formality with the Nevada state Board of Regents which are to meet on Friday to approve the deal. A press conference following the meeting is expected to take place to officially introduce Beard as the Rebels head coach.

The contract is a five-year deal worth $5 million in base salary. The first year pays Beard $900,000 with a $50,000 pay increase each year with the fifth year payout being $1.1 million.

There are incentives and retention bonuses on the deal which is $300,000 for being the head coach for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons and then $00,00 for the 2020-21. There are other incentives and bonuses not mentioned and those are going to be tied to team success.

There are buyouts in place if Beard decides to take another job and if he leaves by this second year he would owe UNLV $1 million, it drops to $750,000 by the fourth year and $500,000 after that.

If Beard would be fired before the end of his contract he would be paid his base salary which is $00,000 for his first three seasons and then bumped up to $500,000 for the final two years of his deal.

This contract is approximately 30 percent higher than former Rebel head coach Dave Rice who made $700,000 per year from the school, but it is also about half of what the Rebels were planning on paying Cincinnati's Mick Cronin.

Beard comes from Arkansas Little-Rock where he led the Trojans to a 30-5 season, winning the Sun Belt and upsetting Purdue in the NCAA Tournament.