Middle Tennessee coach postpones raise to help pay cost of attendance

Middle Tennessee coach Rick Stockstill postponed his raise that was due to kick in this year in order to help the program pay for cost of attendance scholarships.

Middle Tennessee coach Rick Stockstill postponed his raise that was due to kick in this year in order to help the program pay for cost of attendance scholarships, reports the Daily News Journal.

Stockstill was due a $100,000 annual pay raise, but postponed it for four years until January 2019. Doing so freed up $400,000 for MTSU and kept Stockstill’s annual pay at $721,704. His contract will now run through December 2023 after two years were added to his deal in May.

“I want to do what’s best for our players, what’s best for our recruits, what’s best for this program,” Stockstill said Friday, according to the Associated Press. “Everybody’s going to be doing cost of attendance, everybody’s building new facilities. I’m doing everything I can to help not only this university, but our current players and our future players.”

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Cost of attendance scholarships cover expenses student-athletes incur beyond tuition, textbooks, room and board. Legislation allowing schools to cover cost of attendance was passed in January, although schools are tasked with figuring out how to budget for the additional costs.

In addition to the delayed raise, Stockstill’s annual $100,000 raise and extension have been rewritten to require that the football team posts an Academic Progress Rate of at least 940, wins more than half of its game or at least six C-USA games and avoids major NCAA violations.

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Stockstill has coached MTSU since 2006, posting a 57–55 record over his 10 seasons. The Blue Raiders went 6–6 and 5–3 in Conference USA play last season.

- Mike Fiammetta