The Univ. of Colorado Board of Regents on Thursday approved a "contract extension and slight raise" for AD Rick George, according to Brian Howell of the Boulder DAILY CAMERA. George's contract has been extended through June 30, 2021 and his base salary increased to $754,314 per year. Hired in August '13, George's original five-year deal "ran through Aug. 31, 2018, and had a base salary of $700,000." In the 34 months since George was hired, the CU athletics department "has generated" more than $100M in fundraising. George also has "overseen the construction" of a $166M facilities project that has "given the program a new indoor practice facility for football and other sports and the Champions Center." Howell notes George's base salary "ranks second" among the 10 Pac-12 public school ADs (Boulder DAILY CAMERA, 6/17).
SWAMP THINGS: FOXSPORTS.com's Stewart Mandel wrote even a "great AD is not immune to regrettable hires." Florida AD Jeremy Foley, who is retiring effective Oct. 1, "made two absolute home-run hires" in former football coach Urban Meyer and former men's basketball coach Billy Donovan. But Foley also "made two dud hires" in former football coaches Ron Zook and Will Muschamp. Mandel also noted AD searches "do get far more coverage than they did in an earlier era, when many schools defaulted to just promoting a retired coach." But the AD job is "too important today to go that route" (FOXSPORTS.com, 6/16).
