Butch Jones Arkansas State Contract & Buyout if Fired

Just six years after triggering a $8.26-million buyout with his dismissal from Tennessee, Butch Jones is back on the college football hot seat and might be on the verge of earning another seven-figure buyout.

Butch Jones Contract

Jones initially signed a five-year contract with Arkansas State in December 2020 worth $825,000 per year through Dec. 31, 2025.

After a two-win debut season in 2021, Jones was inexplicably gifted an extension that effectively reset his original five-year deal and keeps him under contract through Dec. 31, 2026. His salary didn’t change, nor did performance bonuses.

The bonuses include $5,000 for beating a team ranked in the AP Top 25, $25,000 for a bowl appearances, and $50,000 for winning the Sun Belt Championship.

Butch Jones Buyout

If fired before his contract ends on Dec. 31, 2026, Jones is owed $500,000 for each remaining year — and pro-rated for partial remaining years. If he’s fired at the end of the 2023 season, for example, the buyout would be approximately $1.54 million.

Here’s the exact buyout language:

“The University will pay you as liquidated damages an amount equal to five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.00) times the number of years (including pro-rata for partial years) remaining during the otherwise unexpired term following any such termination, subject to your duty to mitigate by finding other comparable football-related employment.”

If, for example, he immediately finds “comparable football-related employment” with a one-year contract worth $500,000, his buyout would be reduced by that amount.