Kevin Keatts has the option to ... give himself a 2-year contract extension?!

Boo Corrigan’s unwavering support for Kevin Keatts during the season makes a lot more sense now. Or should I say cents! Ha! Get it? Because we’re talking about money, see.

As Joe Giglio reported this afternoon, it turns out that Corrigan altered Keatts’ contract last summer, giving Keatts the ability to extend his own deal for a duration that would depend on the sanctions handed down by the NCAA.

According to the most recent contract, Keatts has the ability to elect to “be extended by NC State in an amount equal to the length of the penalties” imposed by the NCAA “up to a maximum extension of two years.”

Because the sanctions will impact the next two seasons, Keatts has the option to push the length of his current deal from 2026 to 2028. Keatts hasn’t activated the option yet, but the extra years would add $2.7 million to his buyout.

The change to his contract was fair enough given that Corrigan has the same language in his own deal, but it was also risky considering the results of the 2021 season, and boy has none of this aged well. The fact that it’s just becoming public now isn’t doing Corrigan favors, either.

And hey, it could be that a year from now, it looks like a brilliant move. More likely, though, it just means that firing Kevin Keatts will be a lot more expensive.