AUSTIN, Texas -- University of Texas regents voted unanimously Thursday to extend coach Mack Brown's contract by four years to the end of the 2020 season.
"It is important to us to have Mack Brown as our football coach as long as we can," Texas president Bill Powers said. "And this is an expression of that."
The extension, which was pushed through by athletics director DeLoss Dodds to quell rumors of Brown's job stability, calls for Brown to continue to be paid his current $5.2 million salary with annual $100,000 raises. Brown, 60, is currently the highest paid coach in college football.
His assistants will be getting a raise as well.
Dodds said the wheels were in motion to give the coordinators and assistants pay raises in the very near future.
"Right now our staff is equal to if not the better than any staff in the country," Dodds said.
While Dodds acknowledged Texas does not have the highest paid staff in the country, he does want their salaries to be competitive so that Texas can keep some continuity among the assistants.
Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz and co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin each make $625,000.
Major Applewhite, the co-offensive coordinator with Harsin, makes $500,000.
For comparison, former Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables was just hired at Clemson for $800,000. Washington recently hired Justin Wilcox from Tennessee as the defensive coordinator for $700,000. Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart just received a $100,000 pay raise and is making $850,000 per year.
Texas offensive line coach Stacy Searels is currently making $425,000. Defensive tackles coach Bo Davis is making $325,000. Wide receivers coach Darrell Wyatt is making $315,000.
Bruce Chambers and Oscar Giles, two long-time assistants, each make $200,000.
Dodds did not give a timetable for when the raises would take effect. But he said it was something that was currently being worked on.
Carter Strickland covers University of Texas football and recruiting for HornsNation