It was announced yesterday that UND Football Head Coach Chris Mussman has received a three year extension to his contract that will take him through the 2015 season. His base salary will be $114,612 during the first year of the contract, according to the Grand Forks Herald article. Mussman is 23-20 as a head coach and was named the Great West Conference Coach of the Year in 2011. We have not heard if his staff received a raise along with Mussman’s extension.
The extension was definitely warranted for Coach Mussman. He seems to be settling into the role of Head Coach and recruiting has appeared to have gotten better each of the past 4 years. This deal is also good for the stability of the program as they exit the transition abyss and enter the beautiful views of the Big Sky Conference. The football program was inconsistent early in the transition but seemed to find some footing during this past season, going 8-3 and winning the games they should have. Their three losses were to Idaho (FBS), Fresno State (FBS) and Cal Poly, who shared the Great West Championship with UND. Now they will need to take their play to another level with a full Big Sky schedule on the horizon. Instead of playing 7 random games along with 4 conference games, they will now have 8 conference games that take on a special meaning each time.
