Luke Fickell is staying in Cincinnati for the long haul.

The Bearcats head coach tells The Athletic's Justin Williams that he's agreed to a five-year extension with the program.

Sources tell Williams the deal that runs through 2028 will pay the 48-year-old Fickell $5 million per season.

"To be honest, [Cincinnati athletic director] John [Cunningham] put it on my desk probably Week 7 of the season," Fickell told Williams. "Maybe Week 8, I don’t know. And out of respect, I said, ‘Thank you, but I won’t open it. I’ll stick it in my bag, maybe my wife will look at it, but I won’t open it until after the season. I’m not going to get into this, I don’t want to, I don’t want to be distracted,’” Fickell said. “So [John] did that, and then when the season ended, he said we needed to revisit the contract, but I wanted to take care of our [assistant] coaches first. I wanted to make sure we got that out of the way before we took care of my contract."

The new deal covers an increase in the salary pool for Fickell's staff and replaces the extension he signed in 2020 that took him through 2026 and paid him $3.4 million a year.

A native of Columbus, Fickell was named head coach of the Bearcats in 2017 after 15 seasons on the Ohio State staff and has turned the program into one of the nation's best.

The Bearcats are coming off of a 13-0 regular season and a second straight American title. Cincinnati became the first ever non-Power 5 team to reach the College Football Playoff, eventually falling 27-6 to Alabama in the Cotton Bowl.

Prior to signing the extension, Fickell had been attached to vacancies at both USC and Notre Dame this offseason.

Over five seasons with the Bearcats, Fickell has amassed a 48-15 record.

Cincinnati opens its 2022 season on Sept. 3 at Arkansas.