EDITOR’S NOTE: Given the recent contract extension signed by Montana head football coach Bobby Hauck, Skyline Sports will have a series of stories on the contracts of the head football coaches and the athletic directors at the University of Montana and Montana State University.
The contracts for Montana State were provided by MSU compliance and the President’s office. The Montana contracts were provided by the UM Office of Legal Counsel.
BOZEMAN, Montana — In 2021, Montana State’s historic run to the Football Championship Subdivision title game was a part of a landmark year that many deemed the “Year of the Bobcats.”
That year also saw the Bobcats win their first Big Sky Conference men’s basketball title since 1996 and the women’s basketball team advance to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history.
The following academic/athletic year, MSU’s men’s athletes won the Big Sky Conference’s all-sports trophy for the second year in a row and the Bobcats won the President’s Cup as the top athletic department in the league. Montana State also won the Brawl of the Wild all-sports trophy for the seventh year in a row. MSU also won the 2022 Big Sky football championship and the ‘Cats beat Montana for the fifth time in six years in the Brawl of the Wild football game.
The prestigious honor marked the third time Montana State had earned the President’s Cup, including the first time since 2012.
Leon Costello has been the athletic director at Montana State since the summer of 2016. He’s helped MSU athletics achieve one of its most sustained and impressive stretches in the department’s history. In May of 2021, Costello signed a contract extension through June of 2025.
Costello’s contract can be “renewed for subsequent four-year terms, subject to the terms and conditions of the policies of the Board of Regents.”
The contract states that Costello began receiving an annual base salary of $265,513.69. The contract includes annual performance reviews and salary increases in succeeding years “as recommended by the President of Montana State University and approved by the Board of Regents of the Montana University System.”
Costello received a $10,000 retention bonus last July 1 and is set to receive the same bonus in a few months.
Costello also receives bonuses for the following:
– Qualify for NCAA Academic Revenue distribution by meeting any one of the three current metrics, or as they may be revised in the future – $10,000
– All Student Athlete GPA at 3.15 or higher as measured at the end of each academic year – $10,000
– Meet any one of the three criteria below for full amount, no additional compensation for meeting more than one – $10,000
o a. At least two teams selected for post-season competition, or
o b. Top 50% in Big Sky Conference All-Sports Trophy (disadvantaged by only having 15 sports), or
o c. Top 50% (175) nationally in Learfield Directors Cup standings
– Financial Sustainability (cost containment, facilities enhancements, revenue growth from operations and private giving, no adverse audit findings) – $5,000
If Costello achieves all those metrics and upholds the part of the contract that includes the Montana Board of Regents policy & procedure manual; operates the programs fiscally, upholds academic & athletic standards of the department, Costello can make a maximum of $320,514 for the 2024-2025 calendar year in the final year of the contract.
