STILLWATER – The Chad Weiberg and Oklahoma State University athletic director crisis/mystery/enigma (take your pick) is over as the Oklahoma State/A&M Board of Regents approved a new contract for Weiberg at their regularly scheduled meeting at Connors State University in Warner, Okla. on Friday, Oct. 23.
"I thank the Board of Regents and President Hess for their continued confidence in our leadership and vision for OSU Athletics," Weiberg said. "Oklahoma State is a special place, and our coaches and staff are committed to ensuring our student-athletes have every resource and opportunity to compete at the highest level. The future is bright for Cowboy and Cowgirl Athletics."
Weiberg had been working without a contract for the past four months, something that rarely happens to Division I Power Four athletic directors. During that time, Weiberg had sudden open-heart surgery to correct a medical situation that was discovered in late July. He brought in the start of a new school year and the start of revenue sharing in seven Oklahoma State athletic programs as decided by the University and in compliance with the recently settled case of House vs. NCAA.
Robert Allen - Pokes Report
Weiberg at a news conference last February discussing football at Oklahoma State.
Weiberg then led the procedure of firing long-time and very successful head football coach Mike Gundy after a 1-2 start to the season that included a 69-3 loss at Oregon and 19-12 loss to Tulsa, the first loss to the Golden Hurricane since the Bob Simmons era.
Now, Weiberg has led and will continue to lead the pursuit of the next head football coach, and Weiberg has designated that hire as extremely important to the future of Oklahoma State athletics and whether the football program will gain admittance for the school to be in the future upper echelon of college athletics.
Weiberg’s contract is for four-years and will keep him at the same $750,000 annual salary he made in his previous expired agreement.
This was the entry in the official agenda for the Board of Regents meeting in Warner.
ATHLETICS. Weiberg, Chad. . . . The term of this contract is through December 31, 2029. Compensation will continue to be $750,000, with extension of current benefits and perquisites, and monetary incentives tied to meeting overall Athletic Department financial goals, coupled with athletic team performance in each sport, as determined by President.
It was Oklahoma State President Dr. James Hess that two weeks ago confirmed to The Tulsa World’s Eric Bailey at an OSU-Tulsa function that Weiberg would be the athletic director and that this situation would be taken care of.
"Chad is providing strong, steady leadership during one of the most transformative periods in college athletics history," OSU President Jim Hess said. "He has the ability to navigate complex challenges and keep our student-athletes and programs at the forefront."
Pokes Report had two reliable sources confirm and we reported on Sept. 23, the same day that Mike Gundy was dismissed, that Weiberg would receive a new four-year contract with a raise to $900,000 annually with potential bonuses.
The 53-year-old Weiberg was involved in the contract makeover last December for Gundy. He and Shrum handled that after receiving instructions from the Board of Regents in a closed meeting earlier in the day.
Another source told Pokes Report that the delay on Weiberg’s agreement and question on his status resulted from some dissatisfaction over how that situation with Gundy was handled.
Regardless, Weiberg is now the athletic director for the next four years and he has a major task in front of him with finding the next football coach at Oklahoma State.
