The Arizona Board of Regents approved a new three-year contract extension through 2013 for UA head football coach Mike Stoops during their meeting Thursday in the Student Union Memorial Center.

Under the new contract Stoops, 47, will make $1 million in 2009, $1.1 million in 2010, $1.2 million in 2011, $1.3 million in 2012 and $1.4 million in 2013.

Arizona President Robert Shelton said the extension was merited based on the improvement the team has shown both on the field and in the classroom.

“”He has over five years here taken a program that was not reflective of the quality of the institution and turned it around,”” Shelton told the board.

The contract contains a $250,000 buyout should Stoops decide to leave the Wildcats’ program. If he is fired before the contract expires, the university will owe him half of the money remaining on the deal.

Stoops can also earn more money based on attendance benchmarks and performance incentives.

Stoops is entering his sixth year as the head coach of Wildcats and is coming off a season in which he lead the team to a victory in the Las Vegas Bowl, their first bowl victory since they defeated Nebraska in the 1998 Holiday Bowl.

In his five seasons at Arizona, Stoops has recorded 24 wins and 33 losses. The 2008 season marked the first year that the team finished with a winning percentage above .500 under Stoops.

The contract Stoops signed in 2003 and renewed in 2006 was set to expire after the 2010 season. Under that deal, he made roughly $685,000 per-year.

Check tomorrow’s Daily Wildcat for more details and reaction.