FAYETTEVILLE — Two Arkansas football assistant coaches received contract extensions and pay raises this summer.
The contracts for cornerbacks coach Sam Carter and running backs coach Jimmy Smith were extended through February 2023. Carter’s salary was increased to $350,000 and Smith’s salary was increased to $300,000.
Both coaches were previously under contract at $225,000 per year through February 2022.
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Smith’s contract extension was finalized June 28 and Carter’s was finalized July 26. Both contracts were discovered through a Freedom of Information Act request.
With the salary increases, Arkansas’ 10 full-time assistant coaches are scheduled to be paid $5.225 million per year during the 2021 season, which is the same amount as last season. It is the first time since 2014 the Razorbacks’ cumulative staff pay has not increased from the season before.
It has been an eventful offseason for Arkansas' assistants, though.
Smith and Carter are the second and third returning assistant coaches to receive new contracts since the end of last season. In January, defensive coordinator Barry Odom received a $450,000 per-year raise to $1.75 million, which will make him the highest-paid assistant coach in program history.
Arkansas also hired five new assistant coaches — Cody Kennedy (offensive line), Jermial Ashley (defensive line), Michael Scherer (linebackers), Kenny Guiton (receivers) and Dowell Loggains (tight ends) — during the offseason.
Scherer, who was hired as a full-time assistant for the first time, is under contract at $175,000 per year. The other four new hires signed contracts worth $300,000 this year.
Loggains’ pay is scheduled to increase to $400,000 beginning Feb. 1, 2022.