Razorbacks extend contracts of Briles, Odom and 4 others

Arkansas coordinators Kendal Briles (left) and Barry Odom are shown Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas has extended the contracts of six assistant football coaches, including offensive coordinator Kendal Briles and defensive coordinator Barry Odom through the 2024 season.

Odom received a $100,000 pay raise to $1.85 million per year and Briles received a series of pay raises that will increase his salary from $1 million to $1.2 million in 2022. Briles’ salary would increase to $1.3 million by the final year of his agreement.

The contracts were discovered through a Freedom of Information Act request. 

Briles was reportedly targeted for the offensive coordinator position at Miami earlier this year. 

Odom received a pay raise for the third time since he was hired as the Razorbacks’ defensive coordinator in December 2019. He received a $100,000 pay raise after head coach Sam Pittman said an unspecified SEC school expressed interest in Odom in early 2020. 

Odom received a $450,000 pay raise last year when he was reportedly targeted by Texas and LSU. His $1.85 million salary is the largest ever for a Razorbacks coordinator. 

"I think it was very publicized that Kendal had the opportunity to leave and Barry does every single year," Pittman said Thursday. "To maintain those guys I think is a big, big deal that talks about they can’t leave something."

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Arkansas special teams coordinator Scott Fountain, receivers coach Kenny Guiton, linebackers coach Michael Scherer and running backs coach Jimmy Smith also received contract extensions through the 2023 season. 

Fountain’s salary was increased by $65,000 to $515,000; Smith’s salary was increased by $60,000 to $360,000; Guiton’s salary was increased by $40,000 to $340,000; Scherer’s salary was increased by $150,000 to $325,000.

"It’s a big deal to me that we were able to maintain the people that are in front of the most players," Pittman said.

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The pay raises bring the total pay for Arkansas’ 10 on-field assistant coaches to a scheduled $6.14 million in 2022. That is a 15.3% increase over last season when the Razorbacks finished 9-4 and defeated Penn State in the Outback Bowl. 

Pittman is also negotiating a new contract that has yet to be finalized. 

Tom Murphy contributed