Here are bonuses paid to Josh Heupel and Tennessee football coaches for Orange Bowl
Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel receives a $200,000 bonus because the Vols are going to a New Year's Six bowl.
His assistant coaches will get up to $538,800 in bonuses. That depends on whether offensive coordinator Alex Golesh receives a $60,000 bowl bonus from Tennessee after being named South Florida’s head coach.
No. 6 Tennessee (10-2) will play No. 7 Clemson (11-2) in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 30 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
It’s a big payday for the Vols coaches. But their contracts were structured to reward them if Tennessee reached a level that it hadn’t in a couple of decades.
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This is the Vols’ first 10-win regular season since 2003. And they haven’t played in the Orange Bowl since the end of the 1997 season.
Heupel gets $200,000 when Tennessee appears in a College Football Playoff access bowl, also known as a New Year’s Six bowl. And he got an additional $50,000 bonus for being named AP SEC Coach of the Year.
Heupel can also receive a $100,000 bonus if the Vols finish the season ranked in the top 10 in the CFP poll, AP Top 25 or USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.
Bonuses for Tennessee assistants for a New Year’s Six bowl appearance range from $27,000 to $60,000, which is based on a percentage of their pay or a predetermined figure.
Defensive coordinator Tim Banks, offensive line coach Glen Elarbee, defensive line coach Rodney Garner and linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary get $60,000.
Special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler gets $57,000. Secondary coach Willie Martinez gets $55,800. Running backs coach Jerry Mack gets $51,000. Quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle gets $48,000.
Wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope, who was promoted from offensive analyst in the offseason, gets a $27,000 bonus.
Reach Adam Sparks at adam.sparks@knoxnews.com and on Twitter @AdamSparks.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Josh Heupel, Tennessee football coaches to get bonuses for Orange Bowl
