The Board of Trustees at Cincinnati have unanimously approved a contract extension for head coach Luke Fickell this morning, according to a report from Justin Williams.
Williams adds that the extension runs through 2026 and will pay him $3.4 million a year with that money coming from private donations and fundraising. That salary increase puts him in Power 5 head coach salary territory with Mack Brown (North Carolina), Chip Kelly (UCLA), PJ Fleck (Minnesota) and Matt Campbell (Iowa State). It also puts him ahead of what several programs - including West Virginia, Georgia Tech, Oregon, Ole Miss, Pitt, and USC (just to point out a few) - are paying their head coaches.
This past season, Fickell made $2.3 million a year, and made $2 million the year before based on the contract he signed at Cinci in December of 2016. That original contract was set to pay him $2.4 million this fall and in 2021 and 2022 as well. Those salary figures were about middle of the road both nationally and in the AAC last season.
Fickell, who was pursued by a number of other programs this off season including a hot pursuit by Michigan State late in the coaching cycle, is entering his fourth season with the Bearcats.
He's led the program to back-to-back 11-win seasons and has a 26-13 record leading the program and has the Bearcats ranked in the top 20 of the latest AP Poll, released yesterday. Combine that with the 6-7 season leading the Buckeyes as an interim head coach in 2011, and Fickell holds a 32-20 overall mark as a head coach.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.
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