Matt Campbell's Iowa State Contract Includes Fascinating Academics Clause: 'Shall Be Reduced To Zero Dollars'

Iowa State football coach Matt Campbell reportedly can walk from the Cyclones without paying a penny if the program raises admission standards.

Campbell's current contract goes through the 2028 season and he makes $4 million a year in base salary, according to USA Today.

If he chooses to leave the program, Campbell would owe $4 million for breaking the deal. However, there's one very easy way he could walk away without paying a penny.

Matt Campbell's Iowa State contract includes an academic clause. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)

Matt Campbell is free to walk if the Cyclones decide to increase the difficulty of admission past what the NCAA demands.

His contract includes the line, "If the university does increase its academic admissibility and/or eligibility standards above those required by the NCAA, Campbell's liquidated damages, under Paragraph VI (2) (b) shall be reduced to Zero Dollars ($0)," according to Matt Brown.

Matt Campbell's contract includes fascinating academic language.

Currently, the NCA demands a high school GPA of 2.3 and the completion of 16 NCAA-approved core-course credits in English, math or science.

The NCAA no longer requires standardized test scores in order to be deemed eligible. The standards are incredibly low, and if Iowa State does anything to make it more difficult, Campbell can get up and walk away without having to pay ISU a penny, according to the line discovered by Matt Campbell.

Matt Campbell's Iowa State contract includes language on academics. (Photo by David K Purdy/Getty Images)

Iowa State is already a difficult place to recruit and win at. Campbell is viewed as the best coach the school has had in a long time.

Yet, he's just 46-42 in seven seasons in Ames. His best season was going 9-3 in 2020. Winning with the Cyclones is very tough.

Clearly, he doesn't want to be trapped in a contract if recruiting were made harder by the school. It's an understandable decision.

Matt Campbell can leave Iowa State without a penalty if admission standards are raised. (Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Still, it's a bit weird to see academic language like this in a coach's contract. Iowa State really can't ever argue it holds academics high on the priorities list. It clearly doesn't if the program is okay including this language in Matt Campbell's contract.