UC AD Mike Thomas is meeting with football coach Brian Kelly to discuss his contract and the state of the program.
"You certainly want to do everything you can within your means to make sure that happens," Thomas said. "Brian has raised the bar and raised expectations. We're all excited about what's happened so far during the regular season."
Kelly, 45, has been mentioned in media speculation as a second-tier candidate for the Michigan coaching job.
He said he expects his compensation will be part of the discussions next week but that he's not looking to break the bank.
"We don't want to be treated like Ohio State or Notre Dame or Michigan," Kelly said. "We want to be treated like a Big East program that competes for a championship. As long as we're in apples to apples within this league, I'm very happy with that."
In Kelly's first year at UC, the Bearcats are 8-3 as they prepare for their regular-season finale Saturday at Syracuse.
Kelly is about to complete the first year of a five-year contract that guarantees him $800,000 a year. The minimum guarantee increases by $50,000 on Jan. 1, 2008.
He receives an incentive bonus of $5,000 for winning seven games and $3,000 for each additional victory over seven.
He already has earned a $30,000 bonus for his three victories over Top 25 teams and will get another $50,000 if the Bearcats, who are currently ranked 24th, finish in the Top 25.
He'll get another $40,000 if UC plays in a bowl game - which it almost surely will - and he's due an attendance bonus of $32,500 because UC averaged between 23,001 and 31,000 - 30,246 to be exact - for its home games this season
Add it all up and - assuming that UC finishes in the Top 25 - Kelly stands to earn at least $960,500 this season. That figure will increase by another $3,000 if UC beats Syracuse on Saturday.
The Enquirer - Kelly: Think Big East
