Southern’s Pete Richardson Highest Paid HBCU Coach
The Southern University Jaguars are happy that they can move forward with the school’s football program. Pete Richardson, the university’s head football coach, should be happy as well.
After a January 8 meeting of Southern University’s Board of Supervisors, a new three-year contract was approved that makes Richardson the highest paid coach in Division 1-AA and the highest paid coach in the history of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The three-year deal will pay Richardson a base salary of $200,000 a year and the coach can up his earnings a further $40,000 a year with performance incentives.
According to www.exodusnews.com, Richardson was quoted as saying, "I’m very excited to continue my relationship with Southern. I received security from the school and security for my family. Now I can move forward and build my program."
Making Richardson the highest paid coach in the history of 1-AA football though was a no-brainer for the athletic administration at Southern as he has collected five Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) titles and five HBCU titles in 12 seasons as head coach for the Jaguars. In his 17-year career as a head football coach, Richardson has never had a losing season and his impeccable record at Southern stands at an impressive 105-38. His 73.4 winning percentage at Southern puts Richardson among college sports’ best coaches. Before Southern, Richardson coached at Winston-Salem University.
The 59 year-old led Southern to an 8-4 record this season as the Jaguars won the SWACs Western Division. However, his injury-riddled squad suffered a 40-35 defeat at the hands of Alabama State University in the SWACs Championship Game on December 11. At that game, Richardson admitted that he was considering a move to another school if the problems in negotiation could not be worked through.
The loss, however, did not deter the university’s board of supervisors as the new deal was laid out for Richardson after nearly a year of talks. Initially, the two sides suffered a stalemate in negotiations when an agreement for a five-year deal could not be reached. Ultimately, both sides came to terms with a record-breaking three-year deal.
