New Maryland athletic director Damon Evans signs six-year contract, potentially worth about $800,000

Don Markust : Contact Reporter -The Baltimore Sun

New Maryland athletic director Damon Evans signed a six-year contract worth upwards of $800,000 annually, according to a copy of the contract obtained Friday.

Evans, 48, will receive $600,000 in base salary and another $120,000 in supplemental income — nearly double what he was making after taking over as the department’s acting athletic director in October.

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On June 25, Evans was officially named the permanent replacement for Kevin Anderson, who resigned in April after spending the previous six months of his 7½ year tenure on sabbatical.

According to the contract, Evans can also receive up to $45,000 annually in “performance goals" compensation if there are increases in Terrapin Club memberships and donations, as well as for the overall performance of the teams.

Evans will also get a one-time payment of $30,000 for relocating his family from North Carolina, where his wife, Kerri, and two children have lived since he came to Maryland in 2014. Evans will receive $1,000 a month automobile allowance and $120 a month for his cellphone.

The contract also includes a buyout if Evans leaves for another job. Evans would owe the university $500,000 if he leaves before July 1, 2021 and $250,000 if he leaves between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2023.

If he is fired without cause on or before June 30, 2019, Evans will receive $3 million — five times his base salary. If fired after that date, he will get the remainder of his annual base salary.

Evans will be making considerably more than Anderson was before he resigned.

According to the Maryland state salary database, Anderson was making a base salary of $495,000 in his final year. The most Anderson ever made was in 2016, when he earned $587,000 in salary and bonuses. Anderson earned just $25,000 for television and radio appearances compared to $120,000 for Evans.

Evans was hired as athletic director eight years after he was was forced to resign from the athletic director’s job at Georgia, where he played football, after his arrest for drunk driving and the negative publicity stemming from the details in the police report.

After working in private business for four years, Evans was hired by Anderson. He was initially paid $215,000 in 2014 and after a small increase the following year, his salary jumped to $374,000 following a $60,000 increase last fall when he took over Anderson’s duties.