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Utah Athletics announced Friday that head coach Kyle Whittingham has agreed to terms on a four-year contract that will extend him one year through 2018 and quell speculation that his days on the hill may be numbered.
In the new deal, which has yet to be signed, Whittingham will earn $2.6 million in 2015 with an automatic $100,000 increase each year, making the four-year deal worth a total of $11 million.
That base salary would have ranked 37th in the nation last season, according to USA Today's coaching contract database, and sixth-highest among the 10 public universities in the Pac-12 after Chris Petersen, Rich Rodriguez, Mike Leach, Jim Mora and Todd Graham.
Whittingham was previously set to earn $2.4 million in 2015, with a $100,000 bump in each of the following two years.
"We are excited to come to terms on a contract extension for Coach Whitt and under his leadership, we're looking forward to a successful football season next fall and in the years to come," said Utah athletics director Chris Hill in the release.
Neither Whittingham nor Hill were made available to media Friday. Hill is at the NCAA's annual convention in Washington, and Whittingham is on the road recruiting, according to Utah Athletics, which also was unable to immediately provide further detail about the contract.
Whittingham, who spoke last week after a prolonged silence in which it was reported that there was tension between him and Hill, said in the release:
"We appreciate the confidence and commitment the University of Utah has shown our program. We have a talented team returning for the 2015 season and we're excited about the future of Utah football."
Whittingham has coached at the U. for 20 years, all told, beginning as a defensive line coach and eventually succeeding Urban Meyer as head coach in 2004, after Utah's BCS-busting Fiesta Bowl victory.
He led the Utes to another undefeated season, in 2008, culminating in a 2009 Sugar Bowl win over Alabama, and compiled an 84-43 record and a 8-1 record in bowls — tying John Robinson for the best mark in NCAA history by a coach with seven or more bowl wins.
His only losing seasons came in 2012 and 2013, and the Utes won seven or more games in every other campaign. This year's group won nine for the fifth time in Whittingham's tenure.
With the announcement earlier in the week that junior running back Devontae Booker will not declare for the NFL Draft, No. 21 Utah has as many as 16 starters returning.
But Whittingham must still replace both coordinators after Kalani Sitake went to Oregon State (along with defensive line coach Ilaisa Tuiaki) and Dave Christensen left to become offensive line coach at Texas A&M.
Twitter: @matthew_piper