Clemson gives Bowden contract extension through 2014
by The Associated Press on Dec. 05, 2007, under Sports
Bowden
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Clemson coach Tommy Bowden didn’t have to leave for Arkansas to find the security he wanted.
Bowden agreed to a four-year extension Tuesday that, if he stays until the end, would keep him with the Tigers longer than any coach but the program’s celebrated patriarch, Frank Howard.
“I fully intended when I came here nine years ago to make this my last stop,” Bowden said.
Bowden’s new contract would take him through 2014, with only Howard’s 30-season tenure at Clemson (1940-69) longer.
Other details of the deal were not released, pending review by a university trustees’ committee. Amid reports Bowden was wooed by Arkansas, athletic director Terry Don Phillips said the coach’s new financial package moves him among the highest-paid coaches in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Bowden, 69-41 since taking over at Clemson in December 1998, said he was never offered the Arkansas job by the new athletic director – and Bowden’s friend – Jeff Long and always felt confident he and Phillips would settle contract talks that began Nov. 25, a day after Clemson (9-3) defeated archrival South Carolina 23-21.
Rodriguez gets bonus
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez received a $150,000 bonus for winning the Big East and getting the Mountaineers into the Bowl Championship Series.
Rodriguez could have pocketed another $150,000 had West Virginia won a national title.
Pittsburgh ended those hopes by beating the Mountaineers 13-9 on Saturday night.
Pelini to help LSU
LINCOLN, Neb. – Bo Pelini has Tom Osborne’s “full support” to coach second-ranked LSU in the BCS championship game.
Nebraska’s interim athletic director said Tuesday that his new football coach will be on the sidelines as LSU takes on top-ranked Ohio State on Jan. 7 at New Orleans.
“Bo has been at LSU for three years, and its players and coaches have worked very hard for a chance to win the national championship,” Osborne said.
Indiana State hires Miles
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Trent Miles, an assistant on Tyrone Willingham’s staffs at Stanford, Notre Dame and Washington the past seven years, was chosen as the new football coach at Indiana State on Tuesday.
The Sycamores were winless last season and have won just one of their 33 games the past three years.
