Mike Leach, WSU Agree to Contract Extension Through 2024 Worth $4M Annually

Washington State University and head football coach Mike Leach reached agreement on a new contract that will keep him with the school through the 2024 season.

"Mike Leach has established, and continued, a culture of success at Washington State, both academically and athletically, that few have matched," Washington State Director of Athletics Pat Chun said in a statement Thursday. "He has returned WSU to national prominence, is one of the top football coaches in the nation, and we are fortunate to have him leading our program."

The deal extends Leach's contract for one more season at a $4 million annual salary. He will receive a retention bonus of $750,000 after the 2020 season.

The offensive innovator has a 55-46 record in eight seasons at Washington State, highlighted by an 11-2 run in 2018. Doug Samuels of Football Scoop reported Tuesday that Leach met with Arkansas about the university's head coaching vacancy recently.

The 2019 season was one of tumult for Leach, who saw his team go 6-6 and repeatedly expressed his frustration with its performance. He called his players "frauds" following a Nov. 9 loss to Cal, lambasting their effort and mental toughness.

"We definitely regressed," Leach said. "Somehow, it's got to be meaningful enough to the players, and as coaches we've got to make it meaningful. We pretend it's meaningful and we'll pretend to try hard. As soon as it gets difficult, then we wilt."

Washington State won two straight games after Leach's public castigation before losing to rival Washington in their regular-season finale to mark their seventh straight Apple Cup defeat. After Saturday's loss to the Huskies, Leach called a reporter a "sanctimonious troll" for questioning Washington State's inability to defeat its cross-state rival.