LAS VEGAS -- A University of Oregon Board of Trustees committee on Friday ratified the five-year contract of new football coach Mario Cristobal.



Terms of the deal were revealed last week in a memorandum of understanding released by UO, but on Friday UO's Executive and Audit Committee unanimously approved the contract, a university spokesman said.



Cristobal, 47, is Oregon's 34th football coach. He was hired from Alabama as Oregon's co-offensive coordinator in January and promoted to head coach last week within days of Willie Taggart's departure to Florida State.



A Miami native who coached Florida International from 2007-12 with a 27-47 record, Cristobal will be paid $2.5 million annually, and $12.5 million total in base salary, on a contract that will expire Jan. 31, 2023. That represents a savings for Oregon, which paid Taggart $2.9 million this year and was set to owe him $16 million over the life of his own five-year deal.

Cristobal will be eligible for thousands more in bonuses, from $25,000 for earning Pac-12 coach of the year honors to $500,000 for winning the College Football Playoff championship game.



Oregon will owe Cristobal 50 percent of the base salary remaining on his deal if it fires him without cause. Cristobal will owe Oregon $10 million if he leaves before the first year of his contract is up, in January 2019. His buyout decreases by $2 million with every subsequent year.



Cristobal also will be eligible for fringe benefits such as two courtesy cars; memberships at Eugene Country Club and the Downtown Athletic Club; 12 tickets to each home football game; four tickets to any home game for any other UO sport; and an allowance for Nike gear. UO will also cover travel costs for his wife and children to all of UO's road football games, including bowls.



Cristobal's first game as UO coach is Saturday against No. 25 Boise State in the Las Vegas Bowl.



-- Andrew Greif

@andrewgreif