Nebraska adds

escape clause

Nebraska Chancellor Harvey Perlman vows not to repeat history and require the university to grudgingly write multimillion-dollar checks to fired athletic department employees.

A clause that would greatly reduce the amount of money owed if football coach Bo Pelini were fired was a crucial part of contract negotiations, Perlman said Thursday.

"We appreciated that Bo accepted the mitigation provision," Perlman said. "They are not particularly common throughout intercollegiate athletics, to my knowledge. We thought it was fair, and he ultimately thought it was fair."

Pelini, who signed a five-year contract that pays $1.1 million annually, did not return a phone message from The Associated Press.

There was much hand-wringing over combined payoffs of more than $5.3 million to athletic director Steve Pederson and football coach Bill Callahan.

Pederson's and Callahan's contracts did not have provisions reducing the amount of money owed to them if they landed new jobs.

Pederson signed a new contract with Nebraska in July, was fired in October and was allowed to keep all of his $2.2 million buyout even though he was hired at Pittsburgh in November.

Callahan signed a new contract in August, was fired in November and was allowed to keep all of his $3.125 million buyout even though he was hired last week as a New York Jets assistant.

If Pelini were fired without cause, he'd receive a lump sum equal to $41,700 a month for the number of months remaining on the contract.

But the contract adds: "Within a reasonably brief period following termination, Coach shall use his or her best efforts to seek and secure substantially comparable employment including the customary and reasonable terms and conditions of compensation at the new employment, without structuring or timing compensation to avoid mitigation."

If he were to find a job paying more than $500,000 a year, the university would owe him nothing.

If Pelini were to get a job that paid less than $500,000, he would receive some but not all of his damages.

For example, if his next employer were to pay him $120,000 a year, that would equate to $10,000 a month. The university would then reduce his $41,700-a-month basis by $10,000, for a new basis of $31,700.

Perlman, former dean of the University of Nebraska College of Law, said mitigation provisions are common in the private sector and can stand up to a court challenge.

Meanwhile, Pelini's contract calls for him to earn up to an additional $250,000 a year if his program reaches all academic milestones listed.

That's the second-highest maximum in the nation behind the $300,000 Ohio State's Jim Tressel could receive. But it is less than a third of the $800,000 Pelini would get for winning a national championship.

Notable

Florida State has appointed former swim coach Bill Shults to take charge of its academic support program for athletes after a cheating scandal cost the football team two dozen of its top players for a bowl game.

West Virginia has hired Wake Forest quarterback coach Jeff Mullen as offensive coordinator and quarterback coach.

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier hired a defensive coordinator for the second time in five weeks, luring Ellis Johnson away from Arkansas.