FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos signed a restructured contract this month that will increase his salary to $700,000 for the 2016 season.
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The agreement also provides for automatic $50,000 raises the next three years and extends Enos' contract by a year through June 30, 2019.
The new deal was completed Friday with the signature of UA President Donald Bobbitt and obtained through an open records request by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Enos, 47, had been scheduled to make $550,000 this year, but after the Razorbacks ranked No. 29 nationally in total offense with 465.5 yards per game, he drew interest from at least one other program.
Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said Georgia Coach Kirby Smart contacted him to ask for permission to interview Enos. When informed Enos' contract included a "non-compete" clause with other SEC schools, Smart backed off and hired former Arkansas offensive coordinator Jim Chaney away from Pittsburgh.
The Razorbacks enjoyed an offensive resurgence in Enos' first season as coordinator with senior Brandon Allen at quarterback. Arkansas ranked No. 27 in the FBS with 35.9 points per game and displayed the kind of balance Bielema craves.
The Razorbacks were also No. 5 in passing efficiency, No. 32 in passing offense with 268.2 yards per game, and No. 34 in rushing with 197.3 yards per game.
Enos' new contract continues his non-compete clause with other SEC schools and calls for a buyout of $350,000 through Feb. 15, 2018. The buyout decreases to $250,000 through Feb. 15, 2019, and to $100,000 through the end of the term on June 30, 2019.
Enos' contract was one of several tweaks for Arkansas football assistants.
Defensive coordinator Robb Smith's salary increased by $50,000 to $800,000 for 2016, according to the contract he signed in early 2015. Smith was notified in a letter dated Dec. 4 that his contract was being extended by one year, through June 30, 2019.
Smith is under a non-compete clause with other SEC schools and has buyout language calling for him to pay Arkansas $250,000 if he leaves before Feb. 15, 2018, and $100,000 if he leaves between that date and June 30, 2018.
Receivers coach Michael Smith wrote on his Twitter account Friday, "It's always nice to be recognized and presented new opportunities, but I couldn't be more excited for my family and I to stay at the University of Arkansas." The post is believed to reference LSU's interest in him.
In other news involving the football program, strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert has signed an agreement that increased his pay to $340,000 on Jan. 1 and extended the length of his contract through the end of June 2019.
Herbert's deal will give him a pay raise of $10,000 per year, topping out at $360,000 in 2018. The Pittsburgh native, a member of Bielema's original staff at Arkansas, is bound by a non-compete clause with other SEC schools and has buyout terms. He would owe Arkansas $100,000 if he leaves prior to the end of 2016, $75,000 through 2017 and $50,000 beginning Jan. 1, 2018, through the end of his contract.
The public records request made by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette also turned up documentation that Athletic Director Jeff Long had notified former assistant head coach and offensive line coach Sam Pittman that the Razorbacks intended to extend his agreement by one year. In a letter dated Dec. 4, 2015, Long had informed Pittman that terms of an amendment to his contract would be provided to him within 14 days.
Pittman left the Razorbacks on Dec. 12 to coach the offensive line at Georgia for Smart, reuniting him with his friend Chaney.
Sports on 02/13/2016