BGSUHockey.com submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the ten WCHA member schools requesting the contracts of the head ice hockey coaches for each program. Each school in the WCHA is a state-supported institution and all information collected is considered public record. The only school which declined to provide any information was Alabama-Huntsville, who citied Alabama state law which only requires them to release information to Alabama citizens. Thanks to help from BGSU MBA candidate and Alabama citizen, Jake Worthington, we were able to acquire a copy of Corbett’s contract.
Information marked as “n/a” indicates that no specific information was provided for this section. “Not eligible” indicates that coach is a member of the Minnesota state public union system and is not eligible for these benefits. “Not provided” indicates that the specified information was not made available to BGSUHockey.com.
Information contained herein is believed to be accurate and is solely based off the documents provided to BGSUHockey.com by each member school.
What the Columns Mean
School/Name: The individual’s school for which they coach and their name. Clicking on the coach’s name will provide the document(s) (if any) that we received.
Contract Length: The amount of time remaining on the coach’s contract including the 2015-2016 season.
Yearly Salary: The base salary that coach will receive for the 2015-2016 season.
Possible Bonuses: The max amount of money a coach can receive yearly in incentive bonuses assuming a “best case” scenario (*Note: Bemidji State and Minnesota State contracts are not permitted to include bonuses per the Minnesota state system).
Additional Incentives: Perks, allowances, and other cash-payment based benefits available to the coaches.
Buyout Clause: How much money would be owed to the respective school if the coach terminates their contract early to accept a similar position elsewhere. This does not indicate money owed to coaches for a contract being terminated by the school.
The table below is sortable and, if needed, can be scrolled left or right to show all of the information.
| School | Coach | Contract Length | Yearly Salary | Possible Bonuses | Additional Benefits | Buyout Clause |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BGSU | Chris Bergeron | 8 years | $170,000 | $74,500 | $450 car allowance/sponsor provided automobile, golf membership, season tickets to home hockey games, $1,000 Nike allowance, home attendance bonus. | $250,000 before 7/1/18, $150,000 thereafter. |
| BSU | Tom Serratore | 6 years | $200,000 | Not eligible | Not eligible | Not eligible |
| FSU | Bob Daniels | Not provided | $123,245 (FSU provided only 2014 salary) | Not provided | Not provided | Not provided |
| LSSU | Damon Whitten | 3 years | $100,000 | $40,000 | n/a | n/a |
| MSU | Mike Hastings | 8 years | $290,000 | Not eligible | Not eligible | Not eligible |
| MTU | Mel Pearson | 6 years | $275,000 | n/a | Season tickets to all MTU sports, golf membership, $50,000 deferred compensation plan | $300,000 before 5/16/16, $250,000 before 5/16/17, $200,000 before 5/16/18, $150,000 before 5/16/19, $100,000 before 5/16/20, $50,000 before 5/16/21. |
| NMU | Walt Kyle | 2 years | $170,084 | $49,500 | n/a | n/a |
| UAA | Robert "Matt" Thomas | 3 years | $200,000 | $70,000 | Season tickets to home hockey games, ticket packages for Great Alaska Shootout games, airfare for spouse to travel to one WCHA destination, sponsor-provided automobile, cellular phone. | n/a |
| UAF | Dallas Ferguson | 3 years | $156,000 | $32,000 | Sponsor-provided automobile. | n/a |
| UAH | Mike Corbett | 1 year | $103,000 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
