Cincinnati football coach Luke Fickell agrees to new $5 million-per-year deal through 2028, source says

After a transformative year that saw Cincinnati crash the College Football Playoff and earn an invitation to the Big 12, the school is ramping up investment in coach Luke Fickell and his football staff.

A source confirmed to ESPN on Monday that Fickell has agreed to a new contract through 2028 that will pay him $5 million per year, pending approval from Cincinnati's board of trustees. The school is also expected to up the staff salary pool to $5.2 million, a bump of more than $1.4 million.

Fickell has led Cincinnati to back-to-back undefeated regular seasons. The Bearcats' only two losses in the past two years came to Georgia in the Peach Bowl and Alabama in the College Football Playoff. In five seasons at Cincinnati, Fickell is 48-15, which includes the 22-2 record and two conference championships the past two years.

The $5 million yearly salary will put Fickell at the top of the Group of 5 for reported coach salaries.

Cincinnati became the first team from outside one of the five traditional power conferences to reach the College Football Playoff in 2021, a historic season. The school also earned an invite to the Big 12 in September along with UCF, BYU and Houston, which will happen no later than 2024.

The impending extension for Fickell will pay him nearly $1.6 million more per year than he was making under his previous deal. It will also put Cincinnati in position to be competitive financially when the school arrives in the Big 12.

Among the schools expected to be in the Big 12 upon Cincinnati's arrival, Fickell ranks No. 1 in coach salary. Among current Big 12 schools, he is behind only Oklahoma's Brent Venables ($7 million) and Texas' Steve Sarkisian ($5.4 million).

The staff salary pool jump also marks an important