SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

South Carolina’s administration approved new contracts for several Gamecock football coaches on Tuesday.

USC’s Board of Trustees met and discussed athletics employment agreements for head coach Will Muschamp, offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon, defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson, and quarterbacks coach Dan Werner, unanimously approving all four.

“You want to have staff members other people want but you also want to retain them," athletic director Ray Tanner said. "I think, especially in the sport of football. The continuity and consistency are so important to everybody, and I feel like we’ll be able to hang on to our coaches.”

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McClendon will now go to $500,000 in base annual salary with another $500,000 outside compensation with his total coming to $1 million and an extension keeping him at South Carolina through the 2021 season.

The offensive coordinator's new buyout if he terminates the contract is $300,000 next season and decreases by $100,000 every year of his deal.

McClendon drew interest in recent weeks from other programs, sources told GamecockCentral.com, and will receive a raise that will push him into making $1 million per year. He was elevated to the offensive coordinator position under Will Muschamp after serving as the interim play-caller for the Gamecocks’ Outback Bowl win over Michigan on January 1.

That promotion resulted in a pay raise to $650,000 per year on a two-year contract for McClendon. South Carolina showed marked improvement on offense during McClendon’s first season at the helm of the offense, both in exhibiting the type of identity the Gamecocks would like to carry on that side of the ball and productivity.

“As you know, there are some head coaching jobs at let’s say a mid-major school that aren’t paying as well as we’re paying our coordinators," Tanner said. "That could be an advantage for us. That’s not the intent, necessarily. The intent is to pay them their worth and the impact they have on the university.”

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Muschamp and Robinson will receive contract extensions. In January, the Gamecocks’ head coach agreed to a new contract that paid him $4.2 million this season and increases by $200,000 each year thereafter for six years, topping out at $5.2 million annually in 2023. Robinson’s three-year contract from January specified that he be paid $1.2 million annually.

McClendon's raise now means South Carolina is the only school in the SEC to pay both coordinators a seven-figure salary. Auburn did last year but that changed when replacing offensive coordinator this offseason.

“It doesn’t give me pause. If you look at the big picture, we’re in the marketplace; we’re consistent,” Tanner said. “I think it’s important you have the kind of people you need in those positions. We feel great about coach Robinson and coach McClendon and the roles they play on the field and off the field.”

Muschamp's new contract will run now through 2024 while Robinson's will go through 2021, same as McClendon's new deal.

Muschamp's buyout if he terminates the deal is now $4 million this next year and decreases every year he says at South Carolina: $3.5 million in 2020, $3 million in 2021, and $1 million in both 2022 and 2023.

Quarterbacks coach Dan Werner will also be approved for a contract extension and raise. GamecockCentral.com previously reported Werner was in line to see his pay increased following interest from Ole Miss in the program’s offensive coordinator position. Werner’s original two-year deal at South Carolina was valued at $500,000 per season.

Werner will now make $500,000 in base salary and $200,000 in outside compensation, for a total of $700,000 and will get a contract extension. Werner's new deal will run through 2020.

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Robinson's buyout next year is the same as McClendon's while Werner's buyout is $100,000 next year and $50,000 in the final year of his deal.

The contracts will take effect Jan. 1, 2019 and means that this is the first offseason where Will Muschamp has retained his entire coaching staff, something Tanner said was important for recruiting, especially at the start of the early signing period.

“These relationships our built, they’re cultivated. You go back to some of our recruits that will be signing with us in the near future," he said. "It makes a difference. These relationships don’t happen overnight, and I know those calls are coming in, too: ‘Is your staff going to be there?’ it is important.”