UND extends the contract of football coach Bubba Schweigert
Mar. 21—GRAND FORKS — UND has extended the contract of head football coach Bubba Schweigert, the school announced Thursday.
Schweigert's new contract adds two years to his existing deal — running his contract through the 2027 season.
The Herald requested Schweigert's new contract via an open records request. UND provided the contract Thursday afternoon.
Schweigert's second addendum to his 2020 contract was signed and dated by Schweigert and UND athletic director Bill Chaves on Wednesday.
Schweigert will receive the base salary for 2024 and 2025 he was previously signed to receive: $255,000 in 2024 and $265,000 in 2025.
The most recent addendum simply adds two more years to the consistent raise structure.
Schweigert is scheduled to receive $275,000 in 2026 and $285,000 in 2027.
The buyout portion of Schweigert's 2020 contract was unchanged in the addendum.
If Schweigert is fired without cause prior to the end of his contract, UND will owe Schweigert 100 percent of his base salary for the first 24 months. UND will pay 75 percent of his base salary for Months 25-36 and 50 percent for Months 37 to 48.
If he were to be fired and Schweigert then receives athletics-related compensation elsewhere, UND would owe Schweigert the difference between his new salary and his UND contract.
"I look forward to continuing to work with Coach Schweigert to achieve our ultimate goal of winning an FCS championship," UND athletic director Bill Chaves said. "Bubba has led our program to the playoffs four of the past five seasons which makes us one of only seven (of 128) teams in the country to do so. With our facility upgrades occurring in real-time, I am excited for the next steps programmatically. Finally, and aside from the football performance piece, Coach Schweigert is a tremendous ambassador for the University of North Dakota."
Schweigert has advanced UND to the FCS playoffs in four of the last five seasons, with the Fighting Hawks losing at home to Sacramento State in the first round to close out the 2023 season.
Schweigert has a 61-50 record in his 10 seasons as head coach at UND and is coming off consecutive 7-5 seasons.
UND has finished better than .500 in seven of Schweigert's 10 seasons.
In 2023, the Fighting Hawks ranked in the Top 20 of both the major polls the entire season and ended the year ranked No. 16 nationally.
"The future of UND football has never been brighter in the Division I era as the leadership of Dr. Andy Armacost, Bill Chaves, and our entire administration along with wonderful alumni and donor support has put us in a position to keep moving the program in a positive direction," Schweigert said. "We look forward to the completion of the Hyslop at Memorial Village and the Nodak Insurance Company Sports Performance Center (Phase II of the Pollard Athletic Center) along with the continuation of outstanding support for student-athletes including the 701 Alston Awards and implementation of NIL opportunities for our players. It is humbling to know that our campus leadership has the confidence in me to continue leading the football program of North Dakota's flagship university."
The Hawks will see a new era in 2024 as the offensive will be under the direction of first-year offensive coordinator Isaac Fruechte, while the unit will have a new starting quarterback for the first time in years.
