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Illinois announces two-year deal to make Bill Cubit its head coach

Bill Cubit has dropped the interim title at Illinois.

Cubit and the university have agreed to a two-year deal pending approval by the U of I Board of Trustees.

The agreement extends Cubit’s current contract and will pay him $1.2 million per year.

Cubit was named interim coach on Aug. 28 after head coach Tim Beckman was fired. Cubit has led the Illini to a 5-6 record. Illinois plays Northwestern for bowl eligibility on Saturday.

Cubit's two-year deal is definitely a stopgap for the Illini, who are fighting public perception after several football players alleged verbal and emotional abuse at the hands of Beckman. Illinois also is looking for a new athletic director in the wake of those allegations.

“Bill has stepped in during an extremely difficult period and done an outstanding job in leading our football program since August,” Illinois interim athletics director Paul Kowalczyk said. “Our student-athletes have responded in a positive manner and we feel he is the best person at this time to be the head coach. We wanted to allow Bill to make decisions regarding the program as the head coach without the interim title, and lead the Fighting Illini into Saturday’s game without speculation.”

For more Illinois news, visit OrangeandBlueNews.com.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!

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