Illinois gives Bill Cubit a two-year contract, removes interim tag

Illinois has given football coach Bill Cubit a two-year contract and removed his interim head coach title, the school announced Saturday.

“Bill has stepped in during an extremely difficult period and done an outstanding job in leading our football program since August,” 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.”

Cubit was named interim head coach on Aug. 28 and has led the Fighting Illini to a 5-6 record entering Saturday’s game vs. No. 17 Northwestern. Cubit is set to be paid $1.2 million per year.

“During the past three months, Coach Cubit has led this team with a steady and experienced hand,” Illinois interim chancellor Barbara Wilson said. “He has earned respect and appreciation from all of us. This move will allow the permanent Athletics Director to evaluate the program at his or her own schedule and make decisions based on those evaluations once that search is completed.”

Cubit came to Illinois as offensive coordinator in January 2013. He has a career head coaching record of 90-70-1, including stints at Widener (34-18-1 from 1992-96) and Western Michigan (51-46 from 2005-12).

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