Report: Michigan football gives coordinator Don Brown new deal

Jim Harbaugh has said for the past year that he and defensive coordinator Don Brown are becoming best friends.

Apparently, now he has Michigan ready to pay Brown like it.

In a major salary bump, Brown will be paid like the coordinator of the nation's No. 2 defense, getting a new five-year contract for $1.4 million per season, according to a Foxsports.com report.

A Michigan spokesman declined to address the report.

That is a massive boost from the three-year deal he signed when he arrived a year ago that had him at $880,000 per year.

A Broyles award finalist for the best assistant coach this season, the bump would make him the third-highest paid assistant in the country according to the USA TODAY salary database, behind Texas A&M's John Chavis and Clemson's Brent Venables. Brown's defense was significantly better than both this year, ranking in the top two in almost every major category entering Friday's Orange Bowl.

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Brown, 61, said earlier this year he has no plans to retire anytime soon and loves this job at U-M. At the time, he didn't rule out the possibility of being as head coach again, as he was earlier in his career but his name was not mentioned in this year's openings.

Coming on the heels of the $1.15 million Jim Leavitt got to join Oregon, the market was well above Brown's previous salary compared to his defense's elite production.

The timing is interesting coming after a 33-32 bowl loss where Brown's defense played its worst game of the season, allowing a season-high 33 points and the second-highest total of 371 yards.

But the extension was likely in the works for awhile.

Michigan placed all 11 starters with some type of All-Big Ten recognition so Brown's impact was clearly evident.

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Contact Mark Snyder: msnyder@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark__snyder.

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