Danny White put a clause in the contract for the next Lady Vols basketball coach before he knew the person to whom he would offer that contract.
That contract clause chosen by the Tennessee athletics director offers the opportunity to become the highest-paid coach in the country by winning a national title. That was part of the contract signed by new coach Kim Caldwell, who was hired Sunday to coach the historic Lady Vols program.
“I did that because I wanted y’all to see that,” White told reporters Tuesday after Caldwell’s introductory press conference. “I did that before I knew who we were hiring. I didn’t know if we were going to spend multi-seven figures on a new coach or if we were going to spend what we spent.”
Caldwell agreed to a five-year contract worth $3.75 million. She will be paid $750,000 annually through March 31, 2029.
The memorandum of understanding included the clause that White had in mind before he picked Caldwell, who coached at Marshall last season.
The clause stipulates if Caldwell leads Tennessee to a national title that she would receive a raise before May 1 of that season that would make her compensation “equal or exceed the highest salary of any head coach of a women’s basketball team in Division I of the NCAA based on publicly available salary data on the date of such achievement.”
“We wanted to make it very clear that investment and how serious we are about getting our women’s basketball program back to the top is in no question at all,” White said. “She has our full support and will continue to have it.”
White stressed a commitment to salary and assistant coach salary pool was part of the equation and was imperative to the search.
Tennessee has eight national titles in program history, all of which were won under legendary coach Pat Summitt. UT has not won a national title since 2008.
“We want to make sure we get back on top,” Caldwell said.
Caldwell led Marshall to a 26-7 record with Sun Belt regular-season and tournament titles in her only season in Huntington, West Virginia. She led the Thundering Herd to their first NCAA Tournament since 1997.
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Caldwell had been to the NCAA Tournament in each of her eight seasons as a head coach, including seven straight at Division II Glenville State in West Virginia. Caldwell went 191-24 with a national championship in the 2021-22 season and two Final Four appearances.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Danny White explains Kim Caldwell’s national title contract clause
