John Cohen contract released: Here's how much the Auburn athletics director is set to make

MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — Auburn athletics director John Cohen was officially named the 16th AD in school history on Oct. 31, marking the end of his tenure with Mississippi State and the beginning of his career with the Tigers.

Cohen, who graduated from and played baseball at MSU, began his administrative career with the Bulldogs in 2016 as an associate athletics director before he was elevated to AD later that year. When he left Starkville, he was making $1.15 million, according to a term sheet provided by Mississippi State that stated his compensation for the 2022-23 contract year.

That figure included $350,600 of base salary, per his state contract. The rest was likely made up of compensation from the Bulldog Club, though that's not completely clear because the club is a private non-profit that declines to make contracts available.

But during his first year on the Plains, Cohen's starting compensation is $1.5 million, which includes an annual $100,000 retention bonus that triggers Oct. 31 each year. His compensation will also increase by $25,000 each Nov. 1, beginning later this fall.

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If AU were to terminate Cohen's contract for any reason other than for cause, his buyout is 70% of the payments he would've accrued, including the annual raises and retention bonus. If Cohen opted to terminate the deal himself and accepted another job within 12 months of leaving Auburn, he'd owe the university 50% of the remaining payments he was set to receive. That compensation would be due to Auburn within 90 days of him accepting new employment.

It's not clear exactly how much Auburn had to pony up to take Cohen from Mississippi State, but according to his new contract, AU entered into a Resolution Agreement and Cohen entered into an Agreement and Release of Claims with MSU.

"Mississippi State will always be a part of my soul, it'll be part of my DNA," Cohen told the Montgomery Advertiser in an interview in February. "I had great experiences, wonderful people, tremendous institution. But this was such a great opportunity for me and for (my wife) Nelle. And (I) just feel very fortunate that I have this opportunity."

Before beginning as an administrator and after his playing days ended, Cohen coached baseball from 1992-2016. He made stops as an assistant at Missouri and Florida and was the head coach at Northwestern State from 1998-01, Kentucky from 2004-08 and at Mississippi State from 2009-16. He led the Bulldogs to a 284-203-1 record and made five playoff appearances in eight seasons.

Cohen hired current MSU baseball coach Chris Lemonis, who guided the Bulldogs to a national title in 2021.

Since his arrival to Auburn, Cohen has hired a football coach — he landed on Hugh Freeze after a month-long search — and oversaw facility upgrades, such as a $30 million project related to Plainsman Park, which received final approval from AU's Board of Trustees in February. The board also approved in April a $6 million project to renovate Pat Dye Field at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

And with Auburn entering a period Sept. 1 that'll allow it to speak to other apparel companies, Cohen may soon be in charge of leading the Tigers away from Under Armour, a company they have been with since 2006, and to another brand.

"I've only been at Auburn for six months, so my knowledge of the history of this relationship is a little bit limited, although I'm getting information from our coaches (and) from our student-athletes," Cohen said at an AMBUSH event in LaGrange, Georgia earlier this month. "... We'll do our due diligence, and we'll be ready to have conversations about the future of Auburn and our apparel partner. ... We'll see where it takes us in the future."

USA TODAY Sports Project Reporter Steve Berkowitz contributed to this report.

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Here's what Auburn is paying athletics director John Cohen