Mike Leach agrees to extension through 2022, assistant salary pool increased

As we first reported this morning, Washington State University and Mike Leach have come to an agreement on a contract extension through 2022. That extension is an additional year on his contract, which was set to expire after the 2021 season.

“I would like to thank President Schulz and Washington State for their commitment to Cougar football and appreciate his vision and leadership for WSU Athletics,” said Leach in a media release. “We have accomplished some great things in our time here and my staff and I are excited to lead WSU Cougar Football into the future. We can’t wait to see what’s in store for our program.”

Leach’s new contract calls for him to make $3.5 million this coming season with quarter-million dollar increases through 2020 when he hits $4 million. He will also get a one-time retention bonus of $750,000 following the 2020 season.

WSU also agreed to increase the salary pool for Leach’s assistants by $400,000, an especially critical move with the addition of a tenth assistant coach now allowed by the NCAA.

“Coach Leach has led a spectacular turnaround in the fortunes of our football program during the last six years, and we want to keep him in the Cougar family for a long time to come,” said WSU President Kirk Schulz said in a media release.

Leach’s extension comes at the end of a tumultuous ride on the coaching carousel for WSU. The sixth year coach had reportedly agreed to a memorandum of understanding on a contract with the Tennessee Volunteers before athletic director John Currie was fired earlier this month. Leach had been rumored to be of interest for other teams, including the Arkansas Razorbacks, but silly season has now passed and Leach will remain in Pullman with a pretty substantial raise to boot.

You may be left wondering about defensive coordinator Alex Grinch. The third year coordinator was rumored to be a candidate for several jobs, most notably a position with the Ohio State Buckeyes but so far, Grinch remains at WSU. No specific raise for Grinch was announced today, but he is under contract with WSU through the 2020 season.