A $500,000 contract signed in December 2013 made head football coach Charlie Partridge the highest-paid Florida Atlantic University employee. Partridge should be feeling rich, but because of a dismal 3-9 season, he might be feeling worse than most men who make six-figure salaries.

FAU football was expected to make improvements and become bowl-eligible this season, the first go-around for Partridge. Instead, the Owls regressed from the 6-6 mark that they reached in the previous year.

They lost four games by five points or less. They surrendered 34.4 points per game, 110th in the nation. They led Middle Tennessee State for all but 23 seconds, only to lose.

Partridge missed out on at least $10,000 because of the team’s poor performance.

His contract incentives are as follows:

Six wins would have made FAU eligible for an appearance in a bowl game. The only teams from C-USA to make bowl games were Rice, UTEP, Western Kentucky, Louisiana Tech and Marshall. They all had seven or more wins.

Marshall was not ranked in the Associated Press’ final Top 25 football rankings, but seven teams with three-loss records were. The Thundering Herd played the Boca Bowl on Dec. 23.

Personal awards would have also brought Partridge extra funds. Winning National Coach of the Year would net him a $25,000 bonus, and winning Conference Coach of the Year would net him $7,500.

Partridge reasonably missed out on at least $10,000, but he could have made $100,000 if his team could have turned some of those close losses into wins.

The first year for Partridge was not a kind one, but since these incentives are still in play for each of the years that he is under contract, winning down the line may mean more money in the pocket of the Plantation, Fla. native.