Deion Sanders vowed to put CU Buffs football back on the national map. Now it looks as if he and the administration are serious about keeping them there.
The CU Buffs football coach and the University of Colorado agreed to a school-record five-year, $54 million contract extension that ties Coach Prime to Boulder through the 2029 season.
As part of the agreement, Sanders will receive a base salary of $500,000 in addition to supplemental salary payments that add up to $9.5 million in the first two years of the contract and increase by $1 million in 2027 and $1 million in 2029. Added together, that means Sanders is due to receive $10 million in total salary in 2025 and ’26, $11 million in total salary in 2027 and ’28, and $12 million in 2029. He can also earn bonus incentives by achieving certain benchmarks each season and is granted certain allowances under the agreement.
As part of the extension, Sanders and the university agreed “that they will meet and confer in good faith at the conclusion of the 2027 season to discuss any potential extension of this Agreement.”
Sanders strengthened his commitment to remaining in Boulder, based on the increase in money he or any new employers would owe should he seek to buy out his new agreement. Sanders’ buyout for leaving in 2025 had been $8 million; it’s now at $12. It would’ve cost $5 million in ’26; it’s at $10 million now. The damages had been $2 million for 2027; it’s now at $6 million.
Coach Prime’s extension includes a $4 million penalty if he buys it out in 2028; and a $3 million penalty for a buyout in 2029.
Here are more details of the contract:
Supplemental salary payments
• Radio, television and public radio appearances: $3.25 million in 2025 and ’26, with a $500,000 increase in 2027 and another $500,000 increase in 2029.
• Promotion and fundraising: $3.25 million for assisting the athletic department at the athletic director, chancellor and president’s request in “in meaningful consultation with the Coach, in promotion and fundraising activities.” This figure will increase by $500,000 in 2027 and another $500,000 in 2029.
• Development of the student-athlete: $1 million for the support of football student-athletes “towards attainment of academic skills and the development of academic culture;” $1 million for the welfare and development of those same student-athletes; and $1 million for the “development of the Football Program outreach, culture and reputation on campus.”
Incentive payments
• Academic incentive salary: $50,000 if the team attains an Academic Performance Rating (“APR”) rating of 965 after each academic year.
• Competitive success incentives: There are a host of incentives tied to the success of the football program. They are as follows:
- $150,000 if the team wins nine games in the regular season.
- $100,000 for each additional win after nine wins in the regular season.
- $150,000 if the team plays in the Big 12 Championship Game.
- $150,000 if the team is invited to a non-College Football Playoff bowl game.
- $400,000 if the team wins a conference championship or appears in the College Football Playoff. If the team achieves both, Sanders only earns the $400,000 bonus. If the team wins a first-round playoff game, he earns an additional $50,000
- OR $450,000 if the team wins the conference championship and is given a bye into the second round of the College Football Playoff. If he achieves both, Sanders only earns the $450,000 bonus.
- $100,000 if the team appears in the College Football Playoff semifinals.
- $200,000 if the team appears in the College Football Playoff championship.
- $250,000 if the ream wins the national title.
- $75,000 if Sanders is named the Big 12 Coach of the Year.
- $150,000 if Sanders is named the National Coach of the Year.
Allowances and travel
The school will provide Sanders with the use of two “courtesy cars,” which are to be full-sized SUVs, or $1,200 per month. In addition, Sanders will receive $800 per year (or current amount) for membership in the Boulder Country Club or “a club with comparable facilities,” as well as up to 10 football season tickets and four men’s and women’s basketball season tickets. Sanders will also receive a budget of $300,000 per year to use Wheels Up for recruiting.
Termination of contract
If Sanders chooses to terminate the contract to take another job as a coach at the college or professional level, he is responsible for “liquidated damages” within 60 days of terminating the deal. The damages come out to:
• $12 million if terminated on or before Dec. 31, 2025;
• $10 million if terminated on or before Dec. 31, 2026;
• $6 million if terminated on or before Dec. 31, 2027;
• $4 million if terminated on or before Dec. 31, 2028;
• $3 million if terminated on or before Dec. 31, 2029.
If Coach Prime were to be fired without cause, he would be due an amount equal to 75% of all remaining base supplemental salary that would have been due through the end of the agreement. In practice, that means the university would owe Coach Prime the following were he to be terminated without cause:
• 2025: $40.5 million
• 2026: $33 million
• 2027: $25.5 million
• 2028: $17.25 million
• 2029: $9 million
Retirement
If Sanders were to retire, he could elect to do so “without the obligation to pay the agreed-upon liquidated damages to the University.”
Should he retire from coaching but later return to work as a coach for a college or professional football team, at any time during the term of the contract, “the foregoing obligation to pay the University … shall remain in effect. For illustration purposes, if Sanders retires in June 2028 and returns to coaching at the level set forth in the prior sentence in January 2029, then the sum payable shall be $3,000,000.”
Assistant coaches
The contract does not include a revised pool for assistant coach pay or benefits.
Coach Prime Amended and Restated Employment Agreement
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