Under contract, Frank Beamer can have role at Va. Tech, at $250K a year

Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer’s announcement Sunday that he is retiring at the end of the season means he is walking away from a contract that was scheduled to pay him roughly $9 million over the next three years.

However, according to the deal's terms, he is not walking away empty-handed.

That’s because he doesn’t have to walk away from the school at all.

The deal includes several post-head-coaching provisions for Beamer, who is in his 29th season as the Hokies' coach.

As long as Beamer wasn’t terminated for cause, the university agreed that it would appoint him to the position of “special assistant to the athletic director” at a salary of $250,000 per year for eight years. He is to perform fundraising and other booster appearances, as mutually agreed upon by the parties.

In addition, Virginia Tech has agreed to provide Beamer with the free use of an eight-seat suite at Lane Stadium for the rest of his life, with provisions for a variety of equivalent alternatives if such as suite is not available.

Not including potential incentive bonuses, Beamer had been scheduled to make nearly $2.8 million during a 2015 contract year that ends Dec. 31, and he was guaranteed increases of about $120,000 per year in each of the deal’s remaining three years.

Among Beamer’s assistants, longtime defensive coordinator Bud Foster is the only one who is employed under a contract.

COACHES: Paste BN Sports salary database

Foster is working under a five-year agreement that began Jan. 1, 2015 and is scheduled to pay him $900,000 this year -- likely making him one of the 15 highest-paid football assistant coaches at a public school. The deal includes a $600,000 base salary that is scheduled to increase by $25,000 a year, plus $150,000 retention payments that are due June 30 and Dec. 1 of each year.

But either party can terminate the contract without cause as long as it provides 10 days’ written notice.

If Virginia Tech terminates the contract without cause before Dec. 31, 2015, it will owe Foster $1.3 million over a two-year period, with that amount subject to be reduced by the amount of compensation that Foster receives from a new job that he is obligated to make a good-faith effort to seek.

However, if Foster gets another job within 60 days of being terminated and his new contract package is equal to, or exceeds, the amount Virginia Tech owes him, he is entitled to a $300,000 one-time, lump-sum payment from Virginia Tech.

GALLERY: COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHING CAROUSEL