New Florida football coach DAN MULLEN has agreed to a six-year contract for $36M, "making him the second-highest paid coach in the SEC," behind only Alabama's NICK SABAN. UF has to pay Mullen $12M if he is "fired without cause." If Mullen "leaves for another job" his buyout is $2M (GAINESVILLE SUN, 11/28). Mullen's new salary "lifts him into the top five nationally among highest-paid college football coaches," trailing Saban, Clemson's DABO SWINNEY, Michigan's JIM HARBAUGH and Ohio State's URBAN MEYER (AL.com, 11/27). Meanwhile, Iowa State football coach MATT CAMPBELL has "agreed to a new six-year contract" worth $22.5M. Campbell's guaranteed annual salary will increase from $2.1M to $3.5M. ISU also agreed to provide Campbell an additional $1M for "incremental raises for his staff" (DESMOINESREGISTER.com, 11/27).
HUMAN RESOURCE: In Wisconsin, Rex Davenport profiled Bucks Senior VP/HR KELLY KAUFFMAN, as her team "operated without a formal HR department" until her hiring in '14. Kauffman said that every Bucks department was "hiring its own people through its own methods." She described it as a "complete free-for all." Kauffman's effort with the Bucks has "not only ... increased ticket sales, it has uncovered previously untapped talent" (KENOSHANEWS.com, 11/26).
BIG GAME PLAYER: In Minneapolis, Rochelle Olson profiled Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee VP/Operations & Logistics KYLE CHANK, whose job is to "make sure everything works -- from how fans get home from nightly concerts to how the town gets out from under a 3-foot snowfall on Super Bowl weekend." At 26, Chank is "viewed as a wunderkind -- a veteran of the three most recent Super Bowls" in Houston, S.F. and Phoenix. The Palm Springs, Calif., native "earned a journalism degree" from Arizona State in two-and-a-half years "followed by a master's in sports management" from Georgetown. Chank is the "only mercernary on the Minneapolis staff and he's not sure yet whether he'll try to move on to Atlanta" in '19 (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 11/27).
NAMES: Former NHLer JOHN SCOTT was asked to "play the role of a vilified professional hockey player" on an episode of CBS' "S.W.A.T." The episode on Thursday at 10:00pm ET has Scott portraying a player who "needs SWAT protection because of death threats he receives when he returns to a town for the first time since injuring a popular local player on a dirty hit." Actor JAY HARRINGTON, who plays a SWAT member on the show, said that Scott "offered several funny lines that he actually heard during NHL games" (USA TODAY, 11/28)....NASL has asked the U.S. Soccer Federation to "remove" North Carolina FC Owner STEVE MALIK from its BOD. Malik recently "moved his NASL side to the rival USL, and the team remains a candidate to obtain an MLS expansion franchise, thus creating a conflict of interest" (ESPNFC.com, 11/27)....Adidas asked a federal judge to "dismiss" former Louisville basketball coach RICK PITINO's civil lawsuit last week, "denying that the apparel company deliberately damaged his reputation" (COURIER-JOURNAL.com, 11/27)....Longtime radio broadcasters ERNIE CALCUTT and JEFF AVERY on Sunday were inducted into the Football Reporters of Canada HOF (OTTAWASUN.com, 11/26)....JENNIFER LOPEZ and THE CHAINSMOKERS are the "latest acts to book concerts in the Twin Cities during the week of the Super Bowl" (TWINCITIES.com, 11/27).
