Regents to vote on Ault's extension

RENO (AP) - The state Board of Regents is scheduled to consider a two-year contract extension for Nevada football coach Chris Ault this week that would push his base pay above the $500,000 mark for the first time in 2013 but still rank below the conference average.

Ault led Nevada to a 13-1 record and a No. 11 ranking in the final AP Top 25 poll, the school's first national ranking since 1948.

Ault made $443,039 in base salary in 2010 and will make an estimated $468,000 in base salary in 2011, $493,000 in 2012, and $518,000 in 2013.

The extension doesn't include additional financial compensation from the deal Ault signed in 2006 providing another $25,000 per-season raise, which will stay in effect the next three years.

Ault's contract also includes possible bonuses. He would make $15,000 for a conference title, $10,000 for a bowl game appearance, and $5,000 for a Top 25 postseason ranking.

Despite the increases, Ault makes a comparatively low salary at the college football level. His 2010 base salary ranked fifth in the Western Athletic Conference and was well below the conference average of $555,096.

He was the only Top 25 head coach to make less than $1 million last year. Utah's Kyle Whittingham was the second-lowest compensated coach with a base salary of $1,175,000.

Ault's two-year extension through the 2013 season will be reviewed today or Friday by the Regents in Carson City and isn't expected to meet any opposition.

Ault holds a 219-97-1 career record and ranks fifth among active Football Bowl Subdivision coaches in victories. The winningest coach in school history, he earned his second Western Athletic Coach of the Year award last season.

Nevada overcame a 24-7 halftime deficit to knock off then-No. 3 Boise State in overtime 34-31 on Nov. 26.