BOULDER — For years, the Colorado athletic department has felt hamstrung by legislation that limits the amount of multi-year contracts it can offer to coaches.
That could change as early as this summer.
Senator Kevin Priola has helped to lead the charge for Senate bill 17-041, which would allow CU and other in-state schools, including Colorado State and Northern Colorado, to offer more multi-year contracts to coaches.
Currently, CU and other state schools are limited to six multi-year contracts per campus, with a cap of five years in length on those deals. CU uses all six contracts in athletics. Athletic director Rick George, head football coach , football defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot, head men’s basketball coach Tad Boyle, head women’s basketball coach J.R. Payne and head women’s volleyball coach Jesse Mahoney have multi-year contracts.
Senate bill 17-041 would take those multi-year contract restrictions away from self-funded auxiliaries, such as athletics.
“It’s just trying to give them a little bit of flexibility to manage their own affairs and keep some top-notch talent here and offer this as an inducement (to hiring other coaches),” Priola said. “It’s something I’ve been aware of for a few years and thought about it, talked with some folks and we finally decided to run with it.”
Bill 17-041 has gone through three of the seven hurdles thus far. It has gone through all three readings in the state Senate and on Tuesday was introduced to the Colorado House of Representatives and assigned to the education committee. If the bill passes all three readings in the House, the final step is a signature from Governor John Hickenlooper.
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