Stripling served in his first season as CMU’s associate head coach and coached the team’s defensive ends.

“I considered what would be best for our football program going forward from this day forward through the bowl game, how we could function most effectively and what would guarantee the best servicing and opportunity for our players to be successful,” Heeke said.

Stripling’s experience on other staffs played a factor in the move, Heeke said.

Stripling previously coached Michigan’s defensive line from 2005-07.

He also had several stints with other Big Ten schools, including two seasons at Michigan State (2003-04), four seasons at Minnesota (1997-2000) and 13 seasons at Indiana (1984-96). He was the defensive coordinator at Indiana in 1996.

With Stripling serving as the interim head coach, offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian and defensive coordinator Tim Banks can continue to execute their jobs, Heeke said.

“I looked at how we best keep our football organization structured to meet all of our needs,” he said. “I think we’ve got a great setup. It allows our coordinators to continue to do their job.”

Check cm-life.com for more updates on this story.

Former CMU football coach Butch Jones and Cincinnati have agreed to a five-year deal for Jones to become the university’s next head coach.

The Bearcats introduced Jones on Wednesday afternoon in a press conference. CMU named associate head coach Steve Stripling its interim coach for the GMAC Bowl against Troy on Jan. 6 in Mobile, Ala.

Jones is the second CMU coach Cincinnati has hired away from the university. Kelly coached CMU from 2004 to 2006, winning the MAC Championship in 2006.

Jones led CMU to a 27-13 record in three seasons at CMU. The team won two Mid-American Conference championships and will go to its third bowl game under Jones’ leadership on Jan. 6 in the GMAC Bowl.

No. 4 Cincinnati went 12-0 under Kelly this year and will play No. 5 Florida in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1.

Cincinnati offensive coordinator Jeff Quinn was named the interim head coach and was preparing his team for the bowl game after Kelly’s departure last week. He will still coach the Sugar Bowl despite Jones’ hiring.

In 2006, Kelly left CMU after the MAC Championship. Before Jones was hired, Quinn was in a similar position and coached CMU to a 31-10 win against Middle Tennessee State in the Motor City Bowl as an interim head coach.

Check cm-life.com for more on this story.

The Detroit News reported that Jones is the top candidate for Marshall’s coaching vacancy, as well as a frontrunner for Cincinnati’s coaching vacancy after former UC coach Brian Kelly, who coached CMU from 2004 to 2006, left for Notre Dame last Thursday.

KMBC-TV in Kansas City reported last week that Kansas had shown interest to interview Jones, but the Jayhawks looked elsewhere in the MAC before any interview with Jones came to fruition.

On Saturday, Kansas hired former Buffalo coach Turner Gill, who played and worked as an assistant at Big 12 rival Nebraska.

The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington, W.V., among other media outlets, reported that Jones interviewed and took a campus tour at Marshall on Friday with Marshall Athletics Director Mike Hamrick.

Marshall fired former coach Mark Snyder after a 6-6 season this year. Snyder finished his tenure with a 22-37 record. The Thundering Herd will play Ohio in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl on Dec. 26 at Ford Field in Detroit.

Houston coach Kevin Sumlin and Temple coach Al Golden have declined interviews with Cincinnati, the Detroit News reported.

But according to the Philadelphia Daily News, Golden has yet to be notified of any interest from Cincinnati.

Getting compensated

Central Michigan Life reported last week that CMU Athletics Director Dave Heeke said the university has offered a contract extension to Jones that would make him the second-highest paid coach in the MAC, behind only Temple’s Al Golden.

Jones would earn a base salary of $400,000, including a chance to earn $200,000 more in incentives, according to a prior Detroit News report.

If Jones decided to leave the school, he would have to be bought out for $475,000. That number increases to $700,000 if he leaves before the GMAC Bowl on Jan 6, the report said.

Today, Jones and Heeke are in Mobile, Ala., for GMAC Bowl media events, per the Herald-Dispatch.

Continue to check cm-life.com for updates on the CMU football team and Butch Jones, along with other CMU athletics updates throughout the winter break.

Everything CMU Athletic Director Dave Heeke can do to keep football coach Butch Jones in Mount Pleasant will be done, Heeke said Tuesday.

Amid reports and speculation of Jones interviewing at Marshall this week and garnering interest at numerous coaching vacancies nationwide, Heeke said he would not comment on the searches of other universities.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to comment in any way on what other schools our doing with their searches … I’m not going to get involved in fueling the rumor mill or fueling speculation,” he said.

Aside from Marshall — there are conflicting reports on whether Jones will interview at Marshall as soon as Friday — Kansas also has shown interest in Jones to replace former coach Mark Mangino, according to KMBC-TV in Kansas City.

The Kansas City Start reported that Jones has informally spoken with Kansas Athletics Director Lew Perkins about the vacancy.

But Heeke put together another contract extension to better compensate Jones’ work — the Chippewas went 9-0 against Mid-American Conference teams, beat Michigan State on Sept. 12 and earned the No. 25 ranking in the Associated Press poll, the first time CMU has been ranked — and make him among the highest-paid coaches in the conference.

Besides Temple, which does not report other income and bonuses outside of its coach’s base salary, Heeke said Jones would be the highest-paid of the rest of the 13 MAC schools. Temple coach Al Golden has a base salary of $505,000, according to a Nov. 10 USA Today report.

Jones currently is the MAC’s eighth highest-paid coach with a salary of $308,450, the report said.

“We know what the salaries of every other institution (besides Temple) are and we’re ready to put Butch at the very top of that list,” Heeke said.

The Detroit News reported that Jones would earn a base salary of $400,000, including a chance to earn $200,000 more in incentives.

But Jones’ buyout would increase from $475,000 to $700,000 if he left prior to the GMAC Bowl on Jan. 6, the report said.

Currently, the MAC’s next highest-paid coach besides Temple’s Golden is Ohio’s Frank Solich ($456,000). CMU beat Ohio 20-10 in the MAC Championship on Friday at Ford Field in Detroit.

Needing help

Help through private funding at CMU, like other MAC schools, is minimal compared to bigger schools around the nation.

Heeke said those funds need to increase to make the next step as a program or stabilize where it is currently.

“If it wants to be a top-level, top-25 program, if this university wants to be a national leader, the key to that is private support,” he said. “So people need to step forward and invest in this university and believe in what it can do.”

Regarding the resources it can spend on keeping Jones, there is only so much that can be done, Heeke said.

“We’ve done all we can do to place an importance level on our football program that we can deal with in the means that we have,” he said. “That’s always a delicate juggling act with current economic times, what this university is kind of facing economically as well.”

But Heeke said the department is not in a position to use leverage in a deal or get in a bidding war, citing it as “stewards of public dollars.”

“We have to look at what is realistic under the financial parameters that we have on this campus … My philosophy is, we have to do the very best we can, put that in front of our coaches and then respect what happens from that point forward,” he said.

Jones was made unavailable this week for comment.