The biggest names in Auburn sports are being rewarded for the athletic program's recent academic success.
Athletic director Allen Greene, head football coach Gus Malzahn and head basketball coach Bruce Pearl will receive bonuses after nine of Auburn's 19 teams earned perfect APR scores, according to USA Today's Steve Berkowitz.
Greene is set to receive $50,000 in bonuses, half of which is because all of Auburn's athletic teams' 2017-18 APR scores are at least 950. The other half is due to all the teams having multi-year APR scores of at least 950, per Berkowitz.
“To have nine teams achieve perfect APR scores is an outstanding achievement,” Greene said in a statement. “Fielding nationally competitive programs while balancing the demands of Auburn University’s rigorous academics is a testament to the extraordinary efforts of our student-athletes, coaches and academic support staff.”
Auburn football's score for the 2017-18 period improved to 993 from 978 in 2016-17. Since that score is at least 950 but less than 1,000, Malzahn will receive a $75,000 bonus, according to Berkowitz. If the football program were to receive a perfect 1,000 score during an APR scoring period, Malzahn would receive $150,000.
Now entering his seventh season as head coach at Auburn, Malzahn is set to make $6.8 million next season in the second year of his seven-year, $49 million contract that runs through the 2024 season.
For Auburn men's basketball's second straight period with a perfect 1,000 APR score, Pearl will receive a $150,000 bonus, per Berkowitz.
Last month, Pearl and Auburn agreed on a five-year contract extension for the 59-year-old coach after the Tigers made their first Final Four appearance in program history last season.
According to 247Sports, Pearl will earn $3.8 million per year, increasing $125,000 per season after 2019-20, making him the third-highest paid coach in the SEC behind Kentucky's John Calipari ($9.2 million) and Tennessee's Rick Barnes ($4.7 million).
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Nathan King, senior in journalism with a minor in business, is The Plainsman's sports editor.
