FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — UA director of athletics Hunter Yurachek has verbally agreed to a five-year contract extension to remain with the Razorbacks, a UA System spokesperson said in response to a Freedom of Information Act request Monday.
With the new deal, Yurachek will receive $1.5 million annually until 2027, after which he will earn $250,000 in deferred compensation raised from private funds. He currently earns a $1.25 million salary.
The FOIA request revealed that UA System president Don Bobbitt informed interim chancellor Charles Robinson of the offer to Yurachek in an email Thursday. Arkansas Business reported Monday that Auburn made a $2 million offer to Yurachek amid its search for an athletic director, and Nate Hinkel, the UA System director of communications, confirmed he received an offer from another institution.
Auburn formally announced John Cohen as its athletic director Monday, with an annual salary of $1.5 million. Cohen, who previously held the same position at Mississippi State, was reported to be close to a deal over the weekend.
While Yurachek has verbally agreed to Bobbitt's offer, the two sides have not fully executed it, Hinkel said in an email.
“I am sincerely appreciative of the continued support for our program from our Board of Trustees, President Don Bobbitt, Interim Chancellor Charles Robinson and our entire campus administration,” Yurachek wrote Monday in a statement posted to Twitter. “I am honored to be the Director of Athletics at the University of Arkansas and look forward to even greater things to come.”
