Following the most successful season in UW-Madison football history, the UW System Board of Regents approved an amended contract for head coach Bret Bielema Friday.
Bielema, the reigning Big Ten Coach of the Year, will see his compensation package raised from $750,000 in his first year to $1.3 million for his sophomore season.
""The [athletic] department and the institution were very pleased with what happened in a very short time,"" said Vince Sweeney senior associate athletic director for external relations. ""We wanted to make sure ... that the salary was moved to something that's more comparable within the market and try to pre-empt other schools from coming in and trying to lure him away.""
Bielema led the Badgers to a 12-1 record in his first year as successor to UW-Madison Athletic Director Barry Alvarez, including a Capital One Bowl win over Arkansas.
He also recently brought in the No. 26 recruiting class in the nation, including the No. 1 offensive lineman and No. 4 running back in the country according to rivals.com.
The new contract will extend Bielema's stay through the 2011-'12 season, which is vital to the stability of the program according to Sweeney.
""We've been very fortunate at Wisconsin to have low turnover with our football coach,"" he said.
""A lot of schools have turnover during certain times and it's very costly and disrupts recruiting and recruiting contacts so we hope that this will [not only] have a positive impact on recruiting but on other things as well.""
Of the $1.3 million, $400,000 will come from Bielema's base salary and he will get an additional $900,000 from sports-generated, multimedia program revenue.
That revenue will increase by $100,000 per year following the 2007-'08 season, and Bielema could not be happier with his new deal.
""I'm very grateful that the university administration and the Regents have shown this level of confidence in our program,"" Bielema told Athletic Communications. ""I appreciate their support and I will work—along with my staff—to justify that confidence by continuing to help our student-athletes grow academically, athletically and socially.""
