WACO, Texas (AP) - Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades got a new 10-year contract Wednesday less than a week after the school signed football coach Matt Rhule to his own extension.
The new contract for Rhoades goes through July 2029, and includes two automatic one-year extensions after that if both parties agree.
“We appreciate the extensive effort Mack has undergone in building our athletics department in alignment with Baylor’s Christian mission in such a short period of time,” Baylor President Linda Livingstone said in a statement. “We want our student-athletes to have a championship-level experience in all aspects of their lives here at Baylor. … We are pleased that Mack has affirmed Baylor as a destination job, and we look forward to continued success in the future.”
The deal replaces the six-year contract Rhoades got when he was named Baylor’s AD in July 2016 in the wake of a scandal over the school’s handling of sexual assault claims that led to the firing of two-time Big 12 champion football coach Art Briles.
Baylor on Sunday night announced a four-year extension for Rhule through the 2027 season. Rhule was hired by Rhoades and is only 2 ½ seasons into his original seven-year deal with the Bears (4-0) after Jim Grobe was the interim coach in 2016.
Rhoades’ contract includes various performance incentives in addition to base salary. As a private institution, Baylor does not disclose specific contract terms. He was previously AD at Missouri, Houston and Akron.
Baylor plans to build a new basketball facility near the Brazos River, a signature project of the athletics master plan that is part of the university’s $1.1 billion Give Light campaign. A portion of a $100 million gift given earlier this year, the largest ever to the university, will go toward that building.
The Lady Bears women basketball team won its third national championship last season. Baylor’s men went to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in 12 years.
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