BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU proposes a new five-year contract and $100,000 raise for baseball coach Paul Mainieri as well as raises for assistants who helped coach the national championship team.
The proposal would boost Mainieri's total compensation from $525,000 to $625,000 a year. He had two years on his current contract; the new one would run through 2014.
Assistant David Grewe would get a $10,000 raise, to $150,000 a year, and Javi Sanchez would get an additional $15,000, bringing his pay to $90,000 a year.
The school is also proposing $425,000 over two years for football defensive coordinator John Chavis, who turned down an offer from Georgia this year. His current contract calls for $475,000 this year and $500,000 next year; the Athletic Department is proposing a three-year contract at $700,000 a year.
The LSU Board of Supervisors will consider the proposals Jan. 29.
The raise recommendations come as university leaders have said they are struggling to cope with state budget cuts this month that sliced $13 million out of LSU's annual budget, on top of a reduction in state funding earlier this fiscal year and more cuts expected to hit the campus in July.
The athletic department, however, doesn't receive state tax dollars or money from student fees. Instead, it relies on ticket sales, merchandise sales, radio and TV contracts, private fundraising and other self-generated funding sources.
The LSU board also will get requests to approve contracts for new football assistant coaches Billy Gonzales and Frank Wilson and a two-year extension for women's basketball coach Van Chancellor, whose current contract expires in June 2012. Chancellor would not get a raise.
Wilson, who will serve as running backs coach and recruiting coordinator, would get a three-year contract worth $325,000 per year. He replaces Larry Porter, now head coach at Memphis, who was to be paid $350,000 in 2010 and $400,000 in 2011.
Gonzales, who will serve as receivers coach and passing game coordinator, will receive a three-year contract worth $285,000 per year. He replaces D.J. McCarthy, who resigned after the 2009 season and was receiving $200,000 per year.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
