Kiffin Coaching Chimera gets built-in raises for 2010

The chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee...

(This little beauty comes from the Hooper household...)

One day after signing the nation's best player seems like a good time to hear that the whole staff gets built-in raises for next season, which are layed out in this article from the Knoxville News-Sentinel this morning.  The Chimera will earn $3.325 million this season, and is scheduled for $3.52 million next season...you know, before we add in those additional bonuses for winning championships.

All assistants will get $10,000 raises, except for Frank Wilson (WRs - $20,000) and Lance Thompson (LBs - $25,000).  And DACOACHO doesn't need your pithy built-in raises, because we fully believe he alone represents at least one of those heads up there.

The contracts also include a smaller penalty for younger coaches should they leave for a position elsewhere (David Reaves and James Cregg), a stipulation I haven't heard of before but is a smart, fair and balanced idea for guys trying to move up the coaching ranks early in their careers.

And didn't I read somewhere before that Orgeron gets a bonus based on the strength of the recruiting class?  The Vols cracked the Top 10 in Rivals after Bryce Brown signed; while I'm pretty sure his bonus figure is for a Top 5 class, it's pretty awesome that he almost got an instant raise before he even coached a game.

(insert your Sean Connery/Arian Foster/Trogdor joke here)