Michigan State rewarded football coach Mark Dantonio with a revised contract that boosts his annual compensation from $1.13 million to $1.8 million. That moves Dantonio’s deal into the upper echelon of contracts for Big Ten coaches, trailing only Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz ($3.03 million), Ohio State’s Jim Tressel ($2.6 million) and Michigan’s Rich Rodriguez ($2.5 million).

There are several clauses in the new contract aimed at giving Dantonio incentives to stay in East Lansing: a $200,000 annual bonus if he remains the coach each year on June 30 (meaning, he doesn’t take another job at the end of the preceding season), and there’s a $2 million bonus if Dantonio is still at MSU on January 15, 2016. (That’s many years in the future, but again, why Jan. 15? That’s late enough in the hiring season that most jobs that open after the 2015 season will have filled.) 

Here’s a nice touch, especially in view of this recent story that emphasizes the importance of keeping a staff together: according to the MSU press release, the deal also provides for higher salaries for MSU assistants, and allows Dantonio to distribute some of his bonus money to his assistant coaches.

And of course everyone is happy. Quoting from the MSU press release, here’s athletic director Mark Hollis:

“It was important to reward Coach Dantonio for what his program has accomplished in two short years, but most importantly, we wanted to ensure continuity and set this football program up for sustained success,” Hollis said. “The contract revisions certainly help make his total compensation competitive in the Big Ten as well as nationally.”

And Dantonio himself: 

“This revised contract signifies a mutual commitment,” Dantonio said. “The University has certainly made a commitment to provide all of the necessary tools to build a championship-caliber program, and I’ve made a commitment to be the head coach at Michigan State for a very long time.

“Stability is so important for the long-term success of a program, and I deeply appreciate the administration’s effort to increase the salary pool for my coaching staff because they play such an important role in maintaining continuity.

“In these first two seasons, we have established a solid foundation for the program. We know there are many challenges ahead, but we look forward to reaching our ultimate goals of winning Big Ten championships, playing in BCS bowl games, including the Rose Bowl, and playing for the National Championship.”

The most hopeful part of this, for State fans, is Dantonio saying he’s made a commitment to remain MSU’s coach for a long time. Granted, it’s standard coach-speak, and if Nick Saban said something like this upon signing an extension at Alabama, it would be a punchline. But Dantonio doesn’t have Saban’s reputation for saying one thing while doing another, and State fans have reason to hope that, having said this, Dantonio means business.

As for the amount itself, I think the contract does a nice job with a delicate issue: it shows MSU’s appreciation for its coach and gives him an incentive to stay on campus, but isn’t so superlative that it rubs fans the wrong way. (After all, most of Michigan’s state employees aren’t getting $687,000 raises right now.) 

Even though the contract puts Dantonio among the conference’s best-paid coaches, there’s still a significant gap between him and the top three. (Here’s a link to all the Big Ten coaches’ salaries.) 

Dantonio has made a lot of solid decisions to fortify MSU’s football program; now the administration has made a nice move of its own to recognize his work and position the program for more growth.