SEATTLE – In his return to Washington, after spending one season as quarterbacks coach for the Atlanta Falcons, new offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan has more than doubled his annual salary coming back to the college ranks.
Hamdan, who played for Chris Petersen at Boise State from 2006-08, will earn $700,000 in annual salary on a three-year contract that runs through January 31, 2021, according to contract details obtained Thursday by Rivals/TheDawgReport.com through a public records request.
The total matches what former OC/QB coach Jonathan Smith, who left in late November to become the head football coach at Oregon State, his alma mater, made in compensation for the 2017 season. Hamdan made $295,000 in base salary as the Huskies wide receivers coach in 2016.
Smith received a $260,000 raise as part of a two-year contract extension that he signed last April, increasing his annual salary from $440,000 to $700,000 with UW boasting the No. 8 ranked scoring offense in 2016 after ranking No. 55 the previous season.
The Huskies resurgence on offense in year three under Petersen, Jake Browning’s sophomore season under center, saw two receivers, John Ross and Dante Pettis, finish with 17 and 15 touchdown receptions respectively, due in part to the impact Hamdan made in his dual role of WR coach and passing game coordinator.
UW also released the contract details for Will Harris, a former USC Trojan safety (2005-09) and San Jose State defensive backs coach, the first 10th assistant coach to be hired by Petersen.
In April 2017 the NCAA Division I Council voted to add an additional full-time football coach beginning January 9, 2018, with those coaches allowed to help both on the field and in recruiting.
Harris will make $200,000 in his role, stated as “assistant football coach” in his contract with UW, with the duration only a one-year agreement that runs through January 31, 2019.
Both contracts stipulate the same academic and athletic achievement bonuses, including $20,000 for a New Year’s Six bowl game appearance, $40,000 if UW appears in a College Football Playoff semi-final, a $60,000 incentive for a National Championship appearance and $70,000 should the Huskies win it all while they are on staff.
The academic incentives are based on UW’s academic progress rate (APR); $2,000 if APR is greater than 950; $4,000 if APR is greater than 960 and $5,000 for an APR 970 and higher.
The records request made to UW included any and all contracts for UW defensive assistant coaches Jimmy Lake and Pete Kwiatkowski, with the former being elevated to full-time defensive coordinator this offseason after the latter approached Petersen with a pitch to hand over play calling duties to the younger Lake, who turned down multiple offers to stay in Seattle.
Both Lake and Kwiatkowski received increases to their salary, signing on to stay with Petersen last spring through January 31, 2019, with the former making $650,000 annually, the latter $875,000.
Neither have signed an additional memorandum of understanding or new contract with UW since Lake assumed the DC role, according to documents in the records release. The last signed agreement for either coach came on April 7, 2017, when athletic director Jennifer Cohen signed Kwiatkowski’s contract.
