Old Dominion Inks Head Coach Bobby Wilder To New Deal


Bobby Wilder was given a contract extension at Old Dominion. The Monarchs head coach is coming off of a 10-3 2016 campaign.


After leading Old Dominion through a fantastic 2016 college football season, Bobby Wilder has a new contract complete with a raise.

The Monarchs head coach was given an extension and a financial boost after leading his team to a 10-3 mark and a win in the Bahamas Bowl last season. The new deal, which runs through 2021, includes a $100,000 raise, to $650,000 per season. The contract also includes an incentive clause that would increase his annual salary based on the team’s performance.

In a statement, Old Dominion AD Dr. Wood Selig called Wilder the “architect” behind the “success of ODU football for over a decade.”

“I am excited and grateful to sign this contract as I enter my 11th year as the head coach of Old Dominion,” Wilder stated. “We are focused on the process of improving as a program as we enter the 2017 season.”

The agreement comes after the sides had reportedly agreed on a new five-year deal this past December, but it fell apart over job security for Wilder’s assistants. The head coach wanted some assistant coaches to have two-year deals as well as raises. Wilder said seven assistants will sign two-year deals soon.

Wilder was hired as ODU’s head coach in 2007, when he began to build the program from scratch and ultimately see it through its transition from the FCS to FBS. In his first season in 2009, he went 9-2, and all of the hard work paid off last year when ODU finished off its best season yet with a win over Eastern Michigan in the Bahamas Bowl. He is 67-30 at ODU, and the Monarchs are expected to be Conference USA contenders once again in 2017 because they bring back 16 starters in the fall.

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