After one of the best seasons in school history, Mike MacIntyre has been given a three-year contract extension as head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes, according to Nick Kosmider of the Denver Post.
MacIntyre’s previous deal ran through 2018 and his new deal, one that will pay him an average of $3.25 million a season, keeps him in Boulder through the 2021 season. It was a no brainer for the school to make this move.
Now, MacIntyre gets a chance to envision a long-term successful program at Colorado, a school that isn’t far removed from being among the nation’s worst football teams. That all turned around in 2016.
MacIntyre guided the Buffs to a 10-win season that included a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game and the Valero Alamo Bowl. Colorado also won eight games in the conference after having only won two conference games in the previous four seasons. No, that’s not a typo.
He also took home plenty of hardware, winning the Pac-12 Coach of the Year, the Walter Camp Coach of the Year, the AP Coach of the Year and the Home Depot Coach of the Year awards.
Now, MacIntyre will look to build success within a program that had been starving for it since the days of Bill McCartney. Should MacIntyre coach out the full contract, he will become the longest tenured coach since McCartney, who abruptly retired following the 1994 season.
Since then, the longest coaching tenure belongs to Gary Barnett, who manned the sidelines from 1999-2005.
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MacIntyre holds a 35-52 career head coaching record, including a 20-31 mark at Colorado. However, it isn’t just the 10-win season that allowed MacIntyre to earn this extension. It’s the belief and winning atmosphere that he’s starting to create. That’s something that young kids can buy into.
"“I am ecstatic that we will be at University of Colorado for the foreseeable future; there’s no place my family and I would rather be. We absolutely love it here, the people have been great and I truly believe this is just the beginning”, said MacIntyre."
Colorado fans believe that it’s just the beginning as well. The beginning of a very bright future.