Texas Tech just recently made headlines after offering their head coach Mark Adams a single year contract extension on top of the existing five-year deal, after just one season, find out if the decision came too early and what is his salary
Adams is currently 66-years-old with a lot of experience, with over 500 career wins as a head-coach.
Mark Adams Texas Tech salary and contract length details as he’s suspended
With annual base salaries of $300,000 plus right fees, Adams’ who is suspended now, total compensation was at $3 million for the current season and increases by $50,000 annually — to $3.05 million in 2023-24, to $3.1 million in 2024-25, to $3.15 million in 2025-26 and to $3.2 million in 2026-27.
Texas Tech coach Mark Adams signed a new contract, which is five years, and set to pay him a base of $300,000 and $3 million in total compensation in 2022-2023. It increases to $3.2 million by the 2026-27 season.
— Carlos Silva Jr. (@cmsilvajr) April 26, 2022
Here for a good time AND a long time! pic.twitter.com/LSmwo6wvIR
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) April 26, 2022
Despite his experience, he was a branded a “first-time” head coach when he joined Texas Tech last year aged 64.
Mark Adams brief bio
Mark Adams is an American college basketball coach who was born on 14 May 1956 in Brownfield, Texas, United States. He graduated from Texas Tech back in 1979 and currently coaches the men’s college basketball team for the same institute.
Prior to coaching the Texas Tech red Raiders, he coached several teams in Plainview, San Angelo, Canyon, and Lubbock. He linked up with Chris Beard back in Little Rock, Arkansas before eventually making a return to Texas Tech.
A first-time head coach
Mark Adams has worked as a head-coach for decades but he served in the lower level up until now. As such, he was considered as a first-time coach when he joined Texas Tech as their head-coach last year. Adams was a first-time Big 12 coach, a first-time Power 6 Conference coach, and a first-time Major College Basketball coach.
Due to all of those first-time tags, Mark Adams had to take a smaller paycheck than previous head-coach Chris Beard. Beard would be earning almost 5 million at Texas Tech if he stayed with them. Meanwhile, Adams signed for the job in 2021 for just 1.9 Million as part of a five-year, $10 million deal.
Texas Tech and Mark Adams contract extension details
Mark Adams’ original contract with the Texas Tech red raiders ran until the end of 2026. However, instead of moving forward with the same in the 2022-23 season, Texas Tech decided to offer a single year contract extension, and give Adams a raise of over a million dollars. He was originally set to earn a $50 thousand a year raise.
Following the new contract, Texas Tech will now pay Adams a base salary of around $300,000 each year. Moreover, he will earn $3 million in total compensation for the 2022-2023 season. This means that his total potential earnings will increase by $50,000 every year to $3.2 million by the 2026-27 campaign.
Mark Adams a successful first season
After years of grinding and turning down bigger and better while an assistant at Texas Tech the man stayed where he wanted to be and earned a head coaching job last off-season. Then he won 27 games and proved the administration right by getting to the Sweet-16 and being in contention for Big 12 glory in year one.
Why a single-year contract extension for Mark Adams makes sense
The whole scene in College basketball is currently not about college students knowing that they can spend their full four seasons under a single coach and then come back to visit once he leaves. This fact does not help the recruiting process in any way. Every player, even at the high school level knows that the nature of college basketball is all about one-year contracts.
As such, the one-year contract extension for Adams makes sense in a way. The contract extension makes sense in a way such that it was merely more about paying Mark Adams a fair market value.
Last year, when Adams accepted the job, he was a first-time head coach, but that simply does not apply anymore. The veteran coach demonstrated that his decades of experience at lower levels helped in his transition to the Big 12. His defense is still the defense, which finished number one in the KENPOM.com adjusted defense efficiency rating.
Did Texas Tech offer a contract extension to Mark Adams too early?
Although a contract extension for Mark Adams was not the need of the hour, he was surely deserving of the pay raise that he got along with it. In fact, Texas Tech should started with $3 million for Adams when he joined last year.
While it can be argued that it was his first season, Adams will surely not collapse after a single year. He already has 580 wins under his belt. His situation is nothing like an inexperienced Kliff Kingsbury who got an extension after a first season record 7-0. Kingsbury headed downhill after the extension with a 4-8 record, and never really got things in motion again to the top.
This whole contract extension for Mark Adams is simply the Texas Tech agreeing to continue going all-in on the 66-year-old. In conclusion, the contract extension with Mark Adams was by no means too early on the Texas Tech’s part.
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