CONWAY — Coastal Carolina University finally has a signed contract for its new football coach.

More than eight months after introducing Joe Moglia as the second coach in the program’s history, the university released a copy of Moglia’s contract Wednesday. The five-year pact with an annual base salary of $175,000 includes provisions for additional financial bonuses for Moglia or his coaching staff based on team and academic accomplishments.

Those include $40,000 for winning the conference championship, $40,000 for each FCS playoff win, $100,000 for an FCS national championship, $25,000 for scoring between 950 and 970 in the NCAA’s annual Academic Progress Rate review (APR) and $40,000 for scoring greater than 971 on that scale. Coastal’s football program has never scored higher than 951 and scored a 932 in the most recent report.

“We know we’ve got to win. There’s no question about that – we’ve got to win,” Moglia said in regard to the bonus structure. “And if we don’t win or we’re not competing for a national championship, we’re going to get fired. We know that and we understand that. But this is about preparing our guys for what their lives are going to be like after they graduate, after they leave Coastal Carolina and after their football careers are over. ... So if we can significantly improve on what our guys are doing as far as the classroom goes and the university recognizes that [is] certainly one of our priorities and it’s really important then I think it’s wonderful for our [coaches] to be somewhat financially rewarded for that. I’m proud and glad that that’s in there.”

Those bonuses can be paid “solely to Coach, or to Coach and his staff in amounts determined by the Coach and approved by the President,” the contract states.

Moglia, entering his first season as a collegiate head coach, was hired in late December as the replacement for David Bennett, who earned a base salary of $218,139 last season in the middle of an escalating 10-year contract that was terminated after five seasons. Bennett agreed to a $925,000 buyout of that contract in April.

Moglia’s contract, also signed by CCU athletic director Hunter Yurachek and university president David DeCenzo, had Wednesday’s date on it, though the official start date on the contract is listed as Jan. 1, 2012, with a termination date of Dec. 31, 2017. There is also a clause giving Coastal the option to extend the contract for an additional five years to be determined by the athletic director and president by Dec. 31, 2015.

As for why it took so long for Moglia’s contract to be completed, he said there was never any issue.

“There wasn’t any concerns on my part or Hunter’s part or the president’s part,” he said. “We had a handshake, and I think the priority was to be able to get that done at the start of the fiscal year for 2012-13. ... There was no priority that we had to get it done on a certain date, so we were able to go back and forth on a couple of things, but there wasn’t anything that created a controversy or angst or any of those things.”

Said Yurachek: “Between the president, I and coach Moglia, it was never an issue for us that it wasn’t done. We had an agreement for him to be our head football coach, and I think we had held up to our end of the bargain, as had he, and this was just a formality to get the contract done.”

The contract calls for a buyout of 50 percent of Moglia’s remaining contract – and not less than one year’s salary – to be paid if he is terminated without cause before the end of the five-year agreement. In such a case, Moglia’s staff, if not retained, would receive six months paid salary and the offensive and defensive coordinators would receive one year’s salary.

If Moglia is contacted for or has interest in another coaching job, he must obtain permission from the athletic director before any discussions can commence, according to the contract. And if he is hired by another football program at the FCS level or lower within 120 days of terminating his contract, he must pay a buyout of one year’s base salary back to the university.

As for Moglia’s role as chairman of TD Ameritrade, the contract states: “The University will be cooperative with Coach in handling those duties. Coach recognizes, however, that his primary responsibility is to the University.”

Contact RYAN YOUNG at 626-0318.