Fresno State football coach Pat Hill’s contract was extended through the 2010 season, ending speculation that he might leave the university to become a head coach in the National Football League.

"The extension of his contract period underscores our appreciation of his past accomplishments as well as our keen confidence that he is best positioned to lead the continuing progressive evolution of the Bulldog football program," said Athletics Director Thomas Boeh.

Hill said the fact people were interested in him for an NFL coaching job “speaks volumes about the quality of our program at Fresno State. With the schemes we run and type of young men who come through our program, it's a great testament to our overall program that several NFL teams had a genuine interest.”

“We have worked hard to take this program to an elite level of college football,” Hill said, “and while we haven't achieved all of the goals we would have liked, we have become respected and admired by others."

Hill will enter his 10th season at Fresno State with a record of 72-42, the longest streak of consecutive bowl games in the West (seven straight) and Top 25 national rankings each of the past two seasons.

"He has helped bring the story of Fresno State and the Bulldogs to the entire country,” President John Welty said of Hill. “He's built a powerhouse football program and underscored all of that with superior academic achievement by his team. The recent NCAA Academic Progress Rate, or APR, report demonstrates we're ensuring our student athletes are performing well in the classroom as well as in athletic competition.”

Of schools in the Pac-10, Western Athletic and Mountain West conferences, only Stanford, Air Force and Utah football teams had a higher APR at the end of the 2005 season.