[jwplayer uAXGkPyW-sNi3MVSU]
Colorado State Announces Mike Bobo Will Be Back In 2019
No new head coach for the Rams next year.
Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire
At 3-9, Bobo will be back.
Colorado State’s 2018 season was not a good one as the football team went 3-9 with once again losing to rivals Colorado, Air Force and Wyoming; plus dropping their final five games.
Despite the struggles this year, Colorado State athletics director Joe Parker penned a letter to Rams fan saying that Mike Bobo will be back as the head coach for the Colorado State football team.
He called the 2018 campaign a “disappointing and frustrating experience” this year which saw the worst record by Colorado State since 2011 when former head coach Steve Fairchild had back-to-back three-win seasons with the third one costing him his job.
Parker did add that he is “confident in the leadership of our football program.”
The losing record was bad enough but one main reason Bobo is back is the $8 million buyout that is attached to his contract if he is let go this year.
To release this letter says one major thing, and that is Bobo is clearly on the hot seat if things do not turn around in 2019. It may not mean a bowl game has to happen since Colorado State has gone onto one in the first three years as the head coach. Also, beating a rival and winning bowl games more than twice in four years must improve as well.
Also, it implies that fans, boosters, and other Colorado State Rams football supporters are not all that happy with how 2018 went.
Bobo’s contract extension in 2017 added two years onto his deal through 2022 — coincidentally, or not, 2022 is when Parker’s contract is up as well — and will pay him $1.9 million in 2019 and will increase by $100,000 per year and will max out at $2.2 million through the 2022 season.
His buyout has a few scenarios with a price attached to each.
If he were to get hired by a Power 5 team (this seems unlikely given the year he just had) Colorado State is owed money if he leaves anytime before his contract is up.
However, if he is fired without case he will be owed $5.5 million before 2020, $3 million before 2021, $2 million before 2022, and the prorated amount of his remaining salary before 2023.
That buyout does get more manageable as the years go on with Bobo under contract but it is still not a cheap option for a Group of Five program.
Here is the full letter by Parker.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1360]