ATHENS, Ga. — On the heels of a second straight nationwide soccer championship, the University of Georgia has rewarded athletic director Josh Brooks with a contract extension that ties him to the Bulldogs by means of at the very least 2029.

The athletic affiliation board, wrapping up its annual spring assembly Friday at a resort on Lake Oconee, additionally introduced plans for a new observe and discipline facility that may liberate area for 2 extra soccer practice fields.

Brooks’ new contract will improve his wage to $1.025 million a 12 months, with annual raises of $100,000.

The 42-year-old Brooks, who took over the athletic division in 2021 after Greg McGarity retired, referred to as the Georgia job “a dream for me” and mentioned he hopes to spend the remainder of his profession in Athens.

“I am extremely grateful,” Brooks mentioned. “I got into this business 20-plus years ago as a student equipment manager. My first job at Louisiana-Monroe was making $20,000 a year in football operations.”

The Georgia board permitted a fiscal 2024 finances of $175.2 million, a virtually 8% improve from the newest finances of $162.2 million and the signal of a affluent program that’s flush with cash after its success on the gridiron.

The faculty obtained approval to maneuver ahead with its preliminary plans for a new observe and discipline facility, which might be constructed throughout the road from the complicated internet hosting the soccer and and softball groups.

The present observe stadium is situated adjoining to the Butts-Mehre athletic facility, which hosts the practice fields and coaching amenities for the soccer program.

Georgia misplaced a bit of its out of doors fields when it constructed a new indoor practice facility. After the new observe and discipline stadium is accomplished, the present area might be transformed to 2 full-length, grass soccer practice fields on the request of coach Kirby Smart.

“He wants to find efficient ways to practice, and there is a lot of truth to the issues we’ve had with our current practice fields,” Brooks mentioned. “There is a lot of strain on our turf facilities staff to keep that field in great shape when half the day it is getting shade, so that has been a challenge as well. For our football program, it is better to practice on grass fields than (artificial) turf, so to be able to have two side-by-side grass fields is huge. It makes for a much more efficient practice.”

The new observe and discipline complicated, which is able to proceed to be named Spec Towns Track, may also embrace an indoor facility, the primary of its sort within the state of Georgia.