By Marcus R. Fuller and Andy Greder
St. Paul Pioneer Press
MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota announced a one-year contract extension agreement Friday for football coach Jerry Kill, who is now contracted to lead the Gophers through the 2019 season.
Kill’s new deal is expected to include a salary increase of about $300,000 this season, which boosts his annual salary to $2.5 million. His salary will increase to $3 million in 2019.
“It makes you more relaxed so you can coach,” Kill said. “I love the state, love the people, coaches and kids, and I try to take care of them.”
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The announcement comes one week after former athletics director Norwood Teague resigned under pressure of a sexual harassment investigation.
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Coach Kill for several years and I admire how he and his staff have built the Gopher Football program the right way,” interim AD Beth Goetz said in a statement. “We’re seeing the results of that hard work in competition and in the classroom.”
The Gophers enter the 2015 season on the heels of back-to-back eight-win campaigns and last season earned their first Jan. 1 bowl berth since 1962. Kill was named Big Ten coach of the year, the first Gophers coach to win the award since Glen Mason in 1999.
“Coach Kill is a great coach and the players love him,” junior quarterback Mitch Leidner said. “He does as much as he can for us, so it’s the least that people can do for him is give him a contract extension.”
In February, Kill received a one-year contract extension through the 2018 season and an annual salary raise from $1.2 million to $2.1 million in 2014. He had been the lowest-paid Big Ten head football coach but jumped sixth in a 14-school conference.
With Teague gone and the school still trying to raise money for its Athletes Village project, which will include new football practice facilities and offices, Kill said, “I feel like I can help a lot in the adversity situation. It’s good, and I’m ready to move on.”
The Pioneer Press is a media partner of Forum News Service.
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