Iowa State Football: Matt Campbell extension is bad news for Big 12
Iowa State football announced that it would be extending head coach Matt Campbell for six years, worth $22.5 million.
It’s been a tough past couple of decades for Iowa State football fans. Heck, it’s been tough to root for the Cyclones for the past century, but more so since the Iowa Hawkeyes have experienced most of the success in the state under Kirk Ferentz.
However, hiring former Toledo coach Matt Campbell a couple of years ago has been the best moves the program has ever made. It’s a little early to say it saved Iowa State football since it’s only been two years and he has just one winning season to his name in Ames, but he’s on the right path.
Just how good has Campbell been in Ames? Well he’s led Iowa State to its highest win total since 2000 and their its highest ranking in the AP Poll during the season since 2002.
Campbell has been a hot name in coaching searches around the college football world, but the Cyclones made a statement by locking him up for the next six years, a deal reportedly worth $22.5 million, increasing his salary by $1.4 per season.
Excited to announce Matt Campbell has agreed to a new six-year
— Jamie Pollard (@IASTATEAD) November 27, 2017
contract worth $22.5M. Matt's annual salary will increase
from $2.1M to $3.5M. We will also increase the football staff's annual compensation by $1M. Go Cyclones! #raisethestandard
The Big 12 should be worried about this development as it proves that Campbell isn’t looking at Ames as just a pit stop to his next job. He’s here to win and turn Iowa State into a perennial contender. The 37-year-old head coach is doing just that, beating Oklahoma on the road in his second season.
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Iowa State is here to stay, and that’s bad news for Oklahoma, TCU, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Texas and the rest of the conference.