Scott Stricklin had voiced his unwavering support for Mike White early in the offseason and he backed up that claim in a huge way as it was announced that White is receiving a two year extension on his current contract which will now last until 2027. With six more seasons now remaining on White’s contract the Florida athletic department has firmly placed their support behind White, first with the words of Stricklin and now with the action of a hearty extension.
White’s deal has him getting paid just under $3.2 million in each of the next six seasons, as well as a travel expense account valued at $60,000 and a general expense account of $100,000.
As is the case with most contract announcements in college basketball there is one number that seems to be more interesting than any other–the buyout. The two years White was extended hold the same buyout as the existing contract, meaning that if he were fired without cause he would get $1.75 million for every year remaining.
This is a significant buyout, one of many factors that point to the fact that White is going to be at Florida for a long time. When some fans and media were calling for the Gators to move on from White the past year it was the buyout already in place that had many of them realizing a firing was unlikely, and with the extension it would make firing White in the next few years difficult.
If White were to leave for a different job, he would owe Florida $250,000 for each year remaining on the deal.
Finding exact salaries for coaches can be somewhere between difficult and impossible depending on what states require complete transparency (like Florida) and which don’t, as well as there being private institutions who don’t make that knowledge public, but this deal is like going to make White somewhere around the 25th highest paid coach in college basketball.
With White’s deal in place the Gators can now recruit players from the 2022 class and beyond with a fairly high level of confidence that White is going to be in place for a long time, something not all programs can do. The Gators also just had two assistant coaching hires in Erik Pastrana and Akeem Miskdeen over the past weeks, adding to the coaching news cycle.
Now that Florida’s coaching staff and most of their roster are in place, we can officially start looking towards the 2021-22 season.