Coaching IU Football Has Its Perks

So what do you get when you’re the new head football coach of a Big Ten school?

Well, if you’re Kevin Wilson, you get a seven-year contract (actually a Memorandum of Understanding) with a base salary of $500,000 and the ability to make more on the discretion of athletic director Fred Glass.

You also get $600,000 for marketing and promoting. That includes speaking engagements and conducting media interviews. You get a benefit stipend of $100,000 for stuff such as social club memberships and a vehicle for your wife. You get a car and get to keep the money earned by any coaching camps. If you leave before the end of the contract you have to pay the university $500,000.

There are other perks such as membership to the IU Golf Course and IU Tennis Center, eight football and eight basketball season tickets and a personal Adidas family clothing allowance of $10,000.

How do we know all this? Because the Bloomington Herald Times filed a Freedom of Information request to see Wilson’s deal. He’s making about twice what former head coach Bill Lynch made.


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It looks like James Hardy is back in the NFL.

Sort of.

According to FoxSports, Hardy, the former IU All-America receiver, has signed a future contract with the Baltimore Ravens. That means he can’t play in Saturday’s AFC playoff game against Pittsburgh, but will have a chance to play next season.

Hardy, who holds Hoosier records for career touchdowns, catches and receiving yards (and he did it in just three seasons), was cut by the Buffalo Bills in September. He’s been a free agent ever since, with no takers, although the Indianapolis Colts did take a look at him.

Hardy played two seasons for the Bills and caught 10 passes in 16 games.

For IU Hardy had 191 catches for 2,740 yards and 36 touchdowns. He left school after a junior season in which he caught 74 passes for 1,075 yards. He was Buffalo’s second-round pick in 2008.