Two days after Desiree Reed-Francois was announced as the replacement for Jim Sterk as Missouri's athletics director, the university Board of Curators officially approved her hiring Tuesday morning. Details of her contract have now been released, as well. Reed-Francois has agreed to a six-year deal starting Aug. 15 that will guarantee her $800,000 per year.
That represents a significant raise for Reed-Francois, who recently signed a contract extension at UNLV that paid her $425,000 annually. Missouri has agreed to pay UNLV $500,000 to buy out the remainder of her contract. Sterk made $700,000 during his tenure at Missouri.
Reed-Francois' contract, which was obtained by PowerMizzou, stipulates that she will receive a base salary of $550,000 per year as well as annual non-salary compensation of $250,000 in exchange for media and speaking appearances, apparel and marketing events.
In addition to her base salary, Reed-Francois, 49, can earn $150,000 per year in deferred compensation upon completion of the contract. That deferred compensation will still be paid if Reed-Francois is fired without cause after Sept. 1, 2024 — roughly three years on the job. If Reed-Francois is fired prior to Sept. 1, 2024 or opts to leave for another job, she will not be eligible to receive the deferred compensation.
If she is fired without cause at any point during the contract, she will be paid the remainder of her salary in monthly installments, capped at four years. If Reed-Francois opts to leave for another job prior to the end of the contract, she will owe Missouri her base salary for every year left on the contract, capped at four years.
Reed-Francois' contract also provides opportunity to earn $150,000 more per year for achieving performance benchmarks. The contract does not explicitly spell out those incentives, saying they will be set annually by university president Mun Choi.
As part of the contract, Missouri certified that it faces no pending violation charges or sanctions from the SEC or NCAA, and Reed-Francois certified that the UNLV athletics department does not face any pending charges from the NCAA or Mountain West.
Reed-Francois will be formally announced as Missouri's AD Wednesday at a 10 a.m. press conference.
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