TCU coach Gary Patterson has a new contract after leading the Horned Frogs to a Big 12 title in only their third season in a Power Five conference.
Athletic director Chris Del Conte acknowledged Tuesday that a new deal is in place, though he wouldn’t give details.
Patterson was already among the Big 12’s highest-paid coaches, with a salary of about $4 million this season.
Del Conte would only say that Patterson is under contract “through the end of the decade” and that the coach is “well taken care of” financially. The AD said the agreement was reached Dec. 7, the day after the regular-season finale, when the Frogs clinched a share of the Big 12 title with defending champion Baylor.
“We don’t wait around. You don’t let grass grow between your toes when you have the very best in America,” Del Conte said.
Patterson is TCU’s winningest coach with a 131-45 record in 14 seasons. The Horned Frogs (11-1) will play Mississippi (9-3) in the Peach Bowl on Dec. 31.
Youngstown State: Former Nebraska coach Bo Pelini has been hired for the same role at Youngstown State, a Football Championship Subdivision school in his hometown. Pelini, 47, is a graduate of Youngstown's Cardinal Mooney High School and played defensive back for Ohio State from 1986 to '89.
He replaces Eric Wolford, who was fired last month after going 31-26 over five years.
Former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel is the school’s president.
Houston: Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman was hired as Houston's new coach Tuesday. Herman takes over for Tony Levine, who was fired last week. He agreed to a five-year, $6.75 million deal to take over the Cougars, who went 7-5 this season.
Herman, 39, who won the Broyles Award as the top college assistant coach last week, has been quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for Ohio State teams that have gone 36-3 the past three seasons. He will remain with the Buckeyes throughout the team’s playoff run.
The Cougars were 21-17 under Levine. They will play in the Armed Forces Bowl against Pittsburgh at Fort Worth on Jan. 2. Defensive coordinator David Gibbs will coach them in the bowl game.
Oklahoma: A man who pleaded guilty to burglarizing the home of coach Bob Stoops has been sentenced to nine months in prison and given a 10-year suspended sentence.
Corey McCarty, 22, was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty in September to burglary, larceny and unauthorized use of a credit card. Investigators said McCarty and a juvenile broke into Stoops’ home while he, his wife and three children slept and stole cash, a phone, credit cards, keys and a vehicle.
Neither Stoops nor his wife appeared for the sentencing, but they submitted a statement saying their “lives changed forever” after waking up to find that their home had been broken into while they slept.
Florida: New coach Jim McElwain hired Mississippi State's Geoff Collins as his defensive coordinator. Collins will replace D.J. Durkin, who will be Florida's interim head coach for the Birmingham Bowl. Collins helped turn Mississippi State into one of the nation's top defenses. The Bulldogs rank 10th in scoring defense, allowing 19.4 points a game, and lead the country in red-zone defense.
AP All-America team: The College Football Playoff participants are well-represented on the Associated Press All-America team.
Florida State leads the way with three first-team All-Americans: tight end Nick O’Leary, guard Tre Jackson and kicker Roberto Aguayo, who is an All-American for the second straight season.
Oregon and Alabama each have two, including a couple of Heisman Trophy finalists.
Heisman winner Marcus Mariota is the first Ducks quarterback to be an All-American. He is joined by Oregon cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu. The second-seeded Ducks will play third-seeded Florida State on Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl.
Crimson Tide receiver Amari Cooper, third in the Heisman voting, made the first team along with Alabama safety Landon Collins. The top-ranked Tide will face fourth-seeded Ohio State and All-America defensive end Joey Bosa on New Year’s Day in the Sugar Bowl.
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