Andy Enfield, USC Agree to New Contract: Latest Details, Comments and Reaction

USC Trojans men's head basketball coach Andy Enfield agreed to a contract extension through the 2021 season, the team announced on Monday.   

The former Florida Gulf Coast University coach just finished his third season with the Trojans, winning 21 games and qualifying for the NCAA tournament in 2015-16. It was a huge improvement from the previous two seasons in which USC won a combined 23 games. 

It didn't look good early for Enfield, who came to Southern California on a six-year, $6 million-plus contract and with high expectations after taking Florida Gulf Coast, aka "Dunk City," to the Sweet 16 as a No. 15 seed.

It appears success with players he recruited and a trip to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011 were enough for USC athletic director Pat Haden to sign him long term, per a release on the school's website:

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We are very excited about the direction of our men's basketball program under Coach Enfield and the progress that has been made. We look forward to continued progress and we believe that with this contract extension, Coach Enfield will bring stability and success to USC men's basketball for the long term.

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Enfield said he and his coaches are glad to have Haden and other administrators in their corner, per the release:

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The men's basketball staff is very appreciative of the great leadership and support from our administration and we are very thankful to have talented players in our program who are terrific representatives of USC. We look forward to an offseason of continued development for our players that will set the foundation for an exciting 2016-17 season.

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While Enfield has had success, the move most likely is in response to the fact the coach was linked to the opening job for the Pitt Panthers eventually filled by Kevin Stallings, per Pittsburgh Post Game contributor Harry G. Psaros.

Penn Quakers sports announcer Corey Cohen thought Enfield to Pitt was a foregone conclusion:

This is a good sign for a school that usually gives way to its popular football team, as Enfield appears to have the team heading into the right direction with a recruiting class hovering around 35th in the nation (currently 36th), per 247Sports' composite team rankings.

Of course, coaches regularly break contracts—usually only having to pay a fine covered by the new school and possibly agreeing to a home-and-home series—but the extension is a good sign that the Pac-12 school could keep him from going to the powerhouse ACC for now.

The next step toward making the extension worth it for both sides is earning the team's first NCAA tournament victory since 2009. If the improvement of past years means anything, that should be happening for Enfield and the Trojans soon.