An Empirical Estimation of NCAA Head Football Coaches Contract Duration

Abstract While previous research on head coach dismissals finds that team performance and managerial characteristics impact employment survival, these studies ignore the impact of contract modifications. Using an accelerated failure time survival model with hand-collected college head football coach contract data, I find that race/ethnicity affects the hazard rate of contract modifications but not the hazard rate of a head coach’s dismissal. Additionally, analysis of employment duration ignoring contract modifications may result in erroneous conclusions with respect to the effect that race/ethnicity has on a head coach’s dismissal.