Illinois announced on Saturday it has agreed to a two-year deal with head coach Bill Cubit, pending approval from the school's board of trustees. The deal is worth $1.2 million per year.
Cubit has been the team's interim head coach this season. He was promoted to that role after Tim Beckman was fired a week before the start of the season following an external review into allegations of player mistreatment.
"Bill has stepped in during an extremely difficult period and done an outstanding job in leading our football program since August," said interim athletics director Paul Kowalczyk in a statement. "Our student-athletes have responded in a positive manner and we feel he is the best person at this time to be the head coach. We wanted to allow Bill to make decisions regarding the program as the head coach without the interim title, and lead the Fighting Illini into Saturday's game without speculation."
Illinois is 5-6 heading into Saturday's game against Northwestern at Soldier Field in Chicago, Ill. The Fighting Illini have dropped five of their past six games.
Cubit previously served as Illinois' offensive coordinator (2013-14). He has a record of 90-70-1 as a head coach, with stops at Western Michigan (2005-12) and Widener (1992-96).
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