The Compensation Committee of the UA System Board of Trustees unanimously approved a move this morning that will make Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban one of the nation's best-paid college coaches for years to come.

Under terms of the new nine-year deal, Saban stands to earn roughly $4.7 million per year should he stay at Alabama for the life of the contract. Saban's original deal would have averaged $4.125 million over the remaining six years.

The most valuable aspect of Saban's extension is the formation of a $5 million "Contract Year Completion Benefit" clause that will pay Saban a lump sum at three different times if he is still coaching the Crimson Tide. He would be due an additional $1.6 million in Jan. 2012, $1.7 million in Jan. 2015 and $1.7 million more in Jan. 2018.

Overall, Saban stands to make a total of $42.35 million should he remain the Crimson Tide's coach for the life of his new nine-year deal. Saban's deal now runs through Jan. 31, 2018. He will receive annual salary compensation of $4.2 million for each of the three added seasons, which holds consistent with what he was to make through the final years of his original contract.

The new deal also calls for parties to meet in Feb. 2015 to "determine marketplace trends" in regards to football coaches in the SEC and nationally.

Per the contract, if Saban makes less than the "total guaranteed annual compensation" of three highest-paid SEC football coaches or less than that of the average of the five highest-paid NCAA football coaches, "UA agrees to increase employee's total guaranteed annual compensation to the higher of the two averages."

UA announced the agreement earlier this preseason, with Saban saying that, "Our acceptance of the extension expresses our commitment to the University of Alabama for the rest of our coaching career."