Sonny Dykes, Cal Agree on New Contract: Latest Details, Comments, Reaction

The Sonny Dykes era at Cal will continue for four more seasons. The university agreed to a contract extension with its football coach Thursday despite Dykes posting a 13-23 record over his first three seasons.

Jeff Faraudo of the Bay Area News Group reported the deal is worth $2.85 million per season through 2019, with a $3 million salary pool for assistant coaches. 

Dykes, 46, led the Golden Bears to a 7-5 record and their first bowl berth since 2011 this season. After nosediving to a 1-11 record in his first season, Dykes has improved Cal's record each of the subsequent two years. That improvement led to satisfaction within the athletic department but not necessarily with Dykes, who was reportedly growing unhappy.

He was under contract for two more seasons beyond 2015, but "the academic restrictions [at Cal] and contract issue all [played] into rumblings in the industry that Dykes would be open to other jobs," Dan Wolken of USA Today told Avinash Kunnath of SB Nation's California Golden Blogs.

Missouri interviewed Dykes for its vacant coaching position, according to ESPN's Kyle Bonagura, but he left Columbia without a contract. He was one of a number of candidates the Tigers were considering to replace Gary Pinkel, who left his post because of lymphoma. Dieter Kurtenbach of KNBR also painted a scary picture for Cal alums hopeful Dykes would stay:     

Not long after those reports surfaced, Cal announced it had engaged Dykes on contract-extension talks.

“Sonny has my full confidence and it is our intention to keep him here. Three years ago, he took over a program that was not in a good place and in need of significant turnaround and improvement in many areas. Since then, Sonny has done everything we have asked of him,” said Cal athletic director Mike Williams in a statement, per Michelle Lee of the Daily Californian.

While Dykes has improved the program, things might be taking a step back in 2016. Star quarterback Jeff Goff is widely expected to enter the NFL draft, where he'll almost certainly be a first-round pick. The Bears also have a number of solid veteran leaders who are running out of eligibility. 

"We're going to lose some good players (after this season), but we're going to replace them with some good players," Dykes said, per Jeff Faraudo of the Mercury News. "Our young guys are good. We're recruiting well. I'm excited about the future."

The Bears' willingness to sign Dykes to an extension signals they're optimistic he's the right man for the job.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.