Jay Norvell, Nevada agree to five-year extension

The University of Nevada and head football coach Jay Norvell has agreed to a five-year extension, the school announced Tuesday.

This deal is different from the norm occurring around the Mountain West this offseason, as six teams underwent head coaching changes (Hawaii, UNLV, Colorado State, SDSU, New Mexico, Fresno State). You can read more about those coaching changes, along with the complete coaching carousel around the conference here.

The five-year extension is worth a minimum of $3.125 million ($625,000 per season) plus supplemental compensation bonuses based on athletic and academic program success. The deal begins in 2020 and runs through the 2024 season.

Norvell, 56, is 18-20 overall with a 12-12 conference record in three seasons at Nevada. He has guided the Wolf Pack to 15 combined wins over the past two seasons, two of which came over power-5 opponents (Oregon State in 2018 and Purdue in 2019). Nevada is coming off back-to-back bowl appearances for the first time since 2014-15.

“Jay has done a great job guiding our program and developing our student-athletes over the past three seasons. Because of his leadership, there are a great many reasons to be excited about the trajectory of our program as the future of Wolf Pack football is bright,” said athletics director Doug Knuth.

Norvell’s first season with Nevada included a 3-9 campaign. The team made a tremendous leap in 2018, finishing 8-5 — including a 16-13 victory over Arkansas State in the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl for the program’s sixth-ever bowl victory. In 2019, Nevada began the season with a comeback victory over Big-Ten’s Purdue and later earned its first ever Top-25 road victory against San Diego State. The Wolf Pack finished 7-6 in 2019, including a 30-21 loss to Ohio in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

The bonuses that Norvell will be eligible for is determined based off regular season victories, victories over UNLV, victories over power-five opponents, West Division championships and Mountain West championships, bowl game appearances, and coach of the year honors. It also includes bonuses for the program’s score in the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate (APR) and cumulative team grade-point averages.

The program must hit a minimum score in the APR for any athletic performance bonus to be awarded each year.

“I am appreciative of the support of the program shown by University president Marc Johnson and athletics director Doug Knuth,” Norvell said. “The commitment of higher compensation for our staff is an important piece of the further growth of our program. My family and I love living in Northern Nevada and I take great pride in being the head football coach at the University of Nevada. I’m excited for the future of our program!”