Kirk Ciarrocca, rehired as Gophers offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach on Monday, received a two-year contract that will pay him a base salary of $625,000 for each of the 2022 and 2023 seasons, with incentives to make more, according to the document obtained by the Star Tribune.
Ciarrocca, 56, spent the 2017 to '19 seasons as coach P.J. Fleck's first offensive coordinator with the Gophers after serving four seasons in that role at Western Michigan under Fleck. After the 2019 regular season, Ciarrocca left to become Penn State's offensive coordinator. He was fired after a 4-5 season in 2020 with the Nittany Lions and was hired as senior offensive analyst by West Virginia this year.
The Gophers and West Virginia meet in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl on Dec. 28 in Phoenix. Ciarrocca will not coach Minnesota in that game after Fleck and Mountaineers coach Neal Brown came to an agreement about the unique situation.
Ciarrocca had a base salary of $720,000 with the Gophers in 2019 and was scheduled to make $1 million in both 2020 and 2021 at Minnesota. Instead, the Lewisberry, Pa., native took the job at Penn State, which does not divulge coaching salaries.
Mike Sanford Jr., let go as Gophers offensive coordinator last week, made $625,000 in 2020 and $650,000 this year.
If Ciarrocca ends his new contract with the Gophers without cause, he would owe the university a $150,000 buyout. If the university ends the contract without cause, it would owe Ciarrocca his salary through the contract's full term.
The new contract with the Gophers runs through Jan. 31, 2024. Incentives, similar to those listed for other staff members, include up to $165,000 if the Gophers win the College Football Playoff championship and $10,000 if they reach the Big Ten championship game.
