.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
Iowa State announced a 10-year, $20 million contract with Paul Rhoads on Friday, hoping to keep the promising young coach with the Cyclones for years to come.
Rhoads, who is completing his third year as coach of the Cyclones, said in a statement from the school that he was ''appreciative and humbled.''
His five-year deal that ran through 2013 paid him $1.15 million this year. The school said the total value of the new contract was $20 million, with specific terms to be released later.
''The support of everyone in Cyclone Nation has been fantastic,'' said Rhoads, who is 18-19 overall as a head coach, all at Iowa State.
Iowa State pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season by beating then-No. 2 Oklahoma State. Iowa State (6-6) is playing in the Pinstripe Bowl against Rutgers (8-4) on Dec. 30, the school's second postseason trip in three years.
The 44-year-old Rhoads is wildly popular in Iowa and fans broke a nearly three-decade old attendance mark this fall.
''Today is a great day for Iowa State University,'' athletic director Jamie Pollard said. ''Paul Rhoads and Iowa State are a perfect match for one another and we could not be happier that he is going to be our football coach for the long term.''
Rhoads was hired in December 2008 as Iowa State tried to pick up the pieces after a 2-10 season and Gene Chizik's abrupt departure for Auburn. Rhoads' teams have shown steady improvement and pulled off some huge wins behind his spread offense and stingy defense.
The victory over Oklahoma State was the program's first over a top 5 team in 59 tries. Earlier in Rhoads' tenure, Iowa State knocked off Nebraska 9-7 and last year won at Texas 28-21 - the first road wins over ranked opponents in consecutive seasons by Iowa State since 1976-77. The Cyclones also beat Minnesota 14-13 in the 2009 Insight Bowl.
Rhoads grew up in Iowa and was a defensive assistant with the Cyclones at Iowa in the mid- and late 1990s. He later was defensive coordinator at Pitt (2000-07) and Auburn (2008), putting together aggressive units that ranked among the nation's best.
Now he is rolling in Ames. He helped the Cyclones overcome a number of distractions this season, including a quarterback controversy as junior college transfer Steele Jantz fizzled and was replaced by Jared Barnett.
