WEB UPDATE: Jones agrees to two-year extension

Butch Jones will return as CMU’s football coach for the next five seasons.

Jones, a former West Virginia assistant who was named as a candidate to return there as head coach, has agreed to a new five-year contract that runs through 2012.

The deal comes after WVU announced Thursday morning it will hire interim coach Bill Stewart to the full-time position. Stewart led the No. 9-ranked Mountaineers to a 48-28 victory over No. 4 Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl on Wednesday.

Athletics Director Dave Heeke said Jones was a candidate for the WVU job and interviewed with the university twice.

“We started discussing a contract many, many weeks ago,” Heeke said. “Obviously, later in the process Butch became a candidate for the West Virginia job and that complicated things. But he was very upfront with us. We understand he had an opportunity.”

Jones’ new contract allows for a $265,000 base salary in addition to $25,000 for radio and television appearances.

He also receives 20 percent of the net profit for CMU’s summer football camps each year, and receives a $40,000 bonus for staying at CMU through both 2010 and 2012.

Jones coached wide receivers at West Virginia from 2005-06 under then-coach Rich Rodriguez, who left WVU to become the head coach at Michigan last month.

Heeke said there’s no specific buy-out clause in Jones’ new deal that would prohibit him from leaving to any particular school. Jones does have a buy-out clause in his contract, should he leave CMU for a job at another university.

Jones went 8-6 this season, leading CMU to its second consecutive Mid-American Conference title and a 51-48 loss to Purdue in the Motor City Bowl on Dec. 26 at Ford Field in Detroit.

“I think he did a tremendous job,” Heeke said. “He has put in so many pieces to help (the program) last for a long time.”

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