Mark Helfrich, 2014 Oregon Ducks football season

Oregon Ducks head coach Mark Helfrich was rewarded with a new contract on Monday worth at least $17.5 million.

(Thomas Boyd/The Oregonian)

Oregon is rewarding coach Mark Helfrich with a lot of green after guiding the Ducks to the College Football Playoff national championship game in his second season.

The school announced Monday that it signed the 41-year-old coach from Coos Bay to a five-year, $17.5 million contract worth an average of $3.5 million per season after he's gone 24-4 in his two seasons since succeeding Chip Kelly as head coach.

"Mark has provided tremendous leadership of our football program and the values and character that he insists upon are in line with our mission as an institution," athletic director Rob Mullens said in a statement. "The success of our student-athletes on the field and in the classroom will continue with Mark's leadership and we are thrilled that he will stay at home in Oregon for a long time to come."

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The raise is considerable for Helfrich, whose $2 million earnings in 2014 ranked 51st among his peers, according to USA Today's coaching salary database.

The $3.15 million he'll earn in 2015 would rank 21st, by comparison -- and fourth in the Pac-12 among coaches of public universities, behind Washington's Chris Petersen, Arizona's Rich Rodriguez and UCLA's Jim Mora. Helfrich's salary escalates yearly by at least $150,000 until he earns $3.85 million in 2019-20, the final year of the contract.

Helfrich has long reiterated his commitment to Oregon, calling being the head coach at the same university he grew up cheering for two hours away in his hometown along the Oregon coast his "dream job."

Though few considered it likely he would even entertain the possibility of leaving so soon into his head coaching tenure, he was nonetheless discussed as a "hot" candidate as Oregon won a school-record 13 games in 2014-15. As the Ducks prepared for the College Football Playoff, players voiced their opinion that his pay didn't match the team's production. Asked if he was one of football's most under-appreciated coaches, offensive tackle Jake Fisher smiled and answered, "The most underpaid, yes."

At the same time, Helfrich swatted away the notion he had any aspirations to coach in the NFL, but didn't rule it out.

"I love college football, I love everything about college football, but certainly never going to say never," Helfrich said Jan. 10.

It didn't take long for Oregon to make official that it plans to keep Helfrich around for a lot longer.

The contract is again laced with incentives for the Ducks' academics and on-field performance, and would pay Helfrich $500,000 for winning the national title, double what his previous contract stipulated. He'll also earn bonuses if Oregon wins 10 and 11 games, compared with his former deal, which kicked in a bonus only at 12 victories.

Much of the incentive structure remains identical to his first head-coaching deal, however -- he won't earn any more money for winning the Pac-12 North, for example, than before.

It will automatically add one year if Oregon wins at least 11 games, and if one of those victories is part of the "New Year's Six" bowl-game rotation that includes the Rose, Sugar, Orange, Fiesta, Peach and Cotton.

If Helfrich leaves for another job before the contract's second year is up, he must pay $3 million to the university. If he leaves before years three or four are finished, it's $2 million. The figure drops to $1 million if he chooses to leave before the end of the fifth contract year.

Helfrich's first contract as Oregon's head coach, signed January 2013, paid him $1.8 million guaranteed. Last August, he agreed to an amended deal that didn't change his base pay but bumped up some of his incentives and added one year, taking it through 2018.

Oregon won its first conference championship since 2011 this season in a 51-13 blowout of Arizona, before going on to rout Florida State, 59-20, in the playoff semifinal at the Rose Bowl, ending the Seminoles' 29-game winning streak. It lost in the national title game against Ohio State and finished the season with two losses and ranked No. 2, tied for the highest finish in school history.

Helfrich was a finalist for two coach-of-the-year honors, from the Maxwell Football Club and the Football Writers Association of America, which names its top coaching honor for Eddie Robinson.

Though the deal has been in the works for some time, it was announced on what was already a very good Monday for Helfrich.

In the morning, Eastern Washington quarterback Vernon Adams declared his intention to graduate and transfer to Oregon in June and compete for the starting quarterback job. Adams is one of the most prolific quarterbacks in the Football Championship Subdivision.

When Adams enrolls at Oregon this summer, he'll now be coached by one of the best-paid coaches in college football.

-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com

503-221-8100

@andrewgreif