Athletic director Mike Bobinski's contract extension: "A big, big deal to Purdue"

During his discussions with Purdue president Mung Chiang and members of the university’s board of trustees in recent months, athletic director Mike Bobinski made one thing clear.

“I’m happy to continue here, I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue, but it will be as long as I believe and the leadership believes I’m still adding some value and I’m having some reasonable level of enjoyment with the grind here,” Bobinski said Friday.

Bobinski’s grind in college athletics has lasted four decades, but he’s not ready to stop, even with his 66^th birthday approaching later this month. On Friday, Chiang and the board announced a new contract for Bobinski, rewarding him with a five-year extension through June 30, 2028.

The new deal is retroactive to July 1, 2023.  

“I’m fortunate to work with a talented group of people and told them the other day if I didn’t enjoy our team and working with them every day, I wouldn’t continue a day longer than needed,” said Bobinski, who arrived in West Lafayette in 2016.

“I appreciate it very much. There’s no restriction in staying for a specific period of time. When the day comes when I’m not adding value any longer, or my health starts to slide, or you name it at this point in my life, I’ll call it a day.”

Chiang called Bobinski “America’s best AD,” and rewarded him with an increase in base salary, deferred compensation, added incentive bonuses for student success, financial stability and competitive results, and included two retention bonuses totaling $500,000 if he remains through the end of the contract.

The guaranteed value of the new contract could reach $7.275 million before bonuses. 

“College athletics is going through a lot of changes – fast and furious changes in every imaginable dimension,” Chiang said. “We need someone like Mike Bobinski to continue to lead our athletic department. Furthermore, he has demonstrated leadership (and) integrity.

“We as Boilermakers train, compete, and win and do so in the Purdue way. I don’t want to comment on other universities – we do it the right way here at Purdue. It’s no easy task. Given all the changes, given the Purdue way of doing athletics and winning, it’s particularly exciting and monumental to be able to have Bobinski as our AD.”

A significant checklist remains for Bobinski to accomplish.

Phase 1 of the $45.4 million Ross-Ade Stadium project featured the renovation of the south end zone, the addition of the Tiller Tunnel and other amenities. The conversion of the existing team store at the northeast corner of Ross-Ade Stadium into a nutrition/dining facility for more than 450 of Purdue’s athletes is scheduled to be finished by July 1, 2024.

Plans are in the early stages for Phase 2 of the stadium project and the construction of the Pete Dye Clubhouse at the Birck-Boilermaker Golf Complex is underway.

“We are trying hard to continue to find ways to support our programs and push them toward greater success,” Bobinski said. “Since the day I got here, I’ve tried to instill a sense of higher expectations and a belief of who we are and what we can be and continuing that effort.”

But the changing landscape, including but not limited to the transfer portal and Name, Image and Likeness, are areas Bobinski can help coaches and athletes navigate.

“This is year 40 in this industry, and I have a fairly good handle on what it is and how it works,” Bobinski said. “I understand all the pressures that are coming from external forces and those will inevitably force some change that will require some difficult decisions and structural adjustments that I like to think that I can be helpful and navigate some of that and not just turn that over to someone else and say, ‘good luck.’ “

Making sure Bobinski remained the leader of the athletic department during these constantly changing times was important to Chiang and the board.

“Mike is one of the best ADs in the country,” board member Michael Klipsch said. “He’s paid at almost the bottom of the Big Ten. In fairness to Mike, one of the things that this does is put him around the middle of the pack.

“For Purdue, there are so many changes going on in athletics right now. To maintain the same person through this period of turmoil – or period of change, whatever you want to call it – is really important to Purdue. Mike agreeing to stay on during this period of time is a big, big deal to Purdue.”

PURDUE AD MIKE BOBINSKI CONTRACT DETAILS

Year	Base Salary	Deferred Compensation	Incentive Compensation
23-24	$975,000	$250,000	Up to $200,000
24-25	$975,000	$300,000	Up to $200,000
25-26	$975,000	$350,000	Up to $200,000
26-27	$1,025,000	$400,000	Up to $200,000
27-28	$1,075,000	$450,000	Up to $200,000