UVA Football coach Tony Elliott, on Wednesday, said he’s not expecting any changes to his staff in the offseason, with the change that seemed most likely being at offensive coordinator, where Des Kitchings has not had the results on the field that would seem to merit being trotted back out there.
One issue that could be at play here: Kitchings is under contract through March 31, 2026, and his contract includes language that guarantees his pay through the end of the deal in the event of his termination without cause.
I learned this Friday afternoon in response to a Freedom of Information Act request made earlier in the week.
ICYMI
- UVA Football: Des Kitchings appears to be safe as OC, per Tony Elliott
- UVA Football: Tony Elliott knows what he needs to do with Des Kitchings
- UVA Football: The offense’s red-zone problems are a Des Kitchings thing
Kitchings signed an extension on Jan. 24, 2024, covering the 2024 and 2025 seasons, and extending through March 31, 2026.
March 31, incidentally, is the standard end date for the football staff year, from my review of 24 contracts that I was given access to through my records request for assistant coaches and analysts, and recruiting and strength and conditioning staff members, all working under Elliott.
The language guaranteeing the money owed to Kitchings through the end of the contract is also standard across all 24 contracts that I reviewed.
The Jan. 24 contract extension signed by Kitchings detailed $600,000 in annual supplemental pay and $175,000 in annual licensing compensation for the employment year beginning on the first pay period after March 31, 2025, but did not spell out his annual base salary, or his supplemental pay and licensing compensation for the April 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025, period.
The base salary for Kitchings, according to the Jan. 24 document, did not change from his original contract, but the amount on that base salary was not spelled out in the Jan. 24 document.
According to a database maintained by The Cavalier Daily, Kitchings’s annual base salary under the terms of that first contract was $200,000.
I’ve submitted a follow-up FOIA request to try to verify that, and to be able to build a complete picture of the compensation package for Kitchings.
What we know, at this stage, is that if Kitchings were to be let go in the 2024 offseason, he would be owed the $975,000 that he is set to make beginning on the first pay period after March 31, 2025, and a pro-rated portion of his base salary, supplemental pay and licensing compensation for the 2024 season.
So, more than a million dollars, all told.
By way of offering analysis, I have to say, I’m not sure that a million dollars, thereabouts, is a deciding factor in whether or not to keep or fire an assistant coach, at a program that reported more than $51 million in revenues and a $20 million operating surplus in fiscal year 2022-2023, and just announced a significant anonymous gift reportedly worth in the neighborhood of $50 million over the next 10 years to go toward making the program more competitive.
Money, in other words, should not be a factor, not at these amounts.
There has to be a reason why a guy whose offense ranked 106th nationally in scoring (22.7 points per game), 94th in total offense (360.9 yards per game), 103rd in red zone offense (4.1 points per red zone trip), 117th in third-down conversions (34.3 percent), and 132nd in sacks allowed (47), after two years of similarly anemic productivity, still has a job.
I don’t see anything in his contract suggesting the answer is in that document.
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Chris Graham
