President and CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage the No. 1 overall mortgage lender in the nation. Under Mat’s leadership, UWM has soared to new heights, becoming one of the most innovative lenders in the industry Mat Ishbia, Nearly a year after Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker landed a 10-year, $95 million contract extension, there’s a little more clarity about where some of the money came from.
The deal, which was signed on Nov. 24, 2021, was financed in part by a pair of wealthy alumni, Mat Ishbia and Steve St. Andre.
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“I gave another $14 million to Michigan State, is what I gave,” Ishbia said during an interview with HBO’s “Real Sports” on Tuesday night. “And the reality is, a 10-year, $95-million contract sounds like a lot right now. In eight years, that will be the middle of the road.”
Ishbia is a former Michigan State basketball walk-on and now the billionaire chairman, president and CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage. In February 2021, the university announced Ishbia made a $32 million donation to athletics – the largest single-cash commitment from an individual in school history. That contribution included $20 million for renovation to the football facility, which will be named after basketball coach Tom Izzo.
“The reality is Michigan State changed my life,” Ishbia said on HBO. “Tom Izzo, particularly, changed my life. And how do you pay people back that change your life? You show love and you give back.”
After Mark Dantonio retired, Tucker was hired in February 2020 to lead the program. The Spartans finished with a 2-5 record amid the pandemic that season before posting 11 wins last season in a resurgent year. Before that season closed, Tucker had a new fully-guaranteed contract with help from Ishbia and St. Andre, according to MLive.
Just how much those donors kicked in combined is unclear and the Detroit Free Press filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that is pending. Ishbia denied he has any power in decisions made regarding his contribution to the contract.
“No. Not that I’m aware of,” he said. “No.”
When Tucker’s contract extension was formally approved by Michigan State’s Board of Trustees in December 2021, then-president Samuel Stanley declined to provide specifics about how the donor money would be distributed.
“That’s up to the discretion of the athletic director (Alan Haller) in how we’re going to pay for that and how we’re going to cover it,” Stanley said at the time. “We certainly have dollars that have come in for discretionary funds for AD so some of those dollars will be available and it’s up to Alan really to figure out the distribution and how that works.”
The contract extension immediately made Tucker one of the top-five highest paid college football coaches in the nation but salaries continue to skyrocket. Meanwhile, Michigan State (5-6, 3-5 Big Ten) is heading into a regular-season finale at No. 11 Penn State on Saturday and needs a win to become bowl eligible.
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Sources: MLive
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