Rich Rodriguez left West Virginia 17 years ago, in part because he was frustrated with the school’s refusal to give him more money for his assistant coaches.

He will have enough for her now.

According to his letter of intent signed Dec. 11 and obtained by The Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request, Rodriguez signed a five-year contract with West Virginia and will be paid $3.5 million in his first season. This number increases by $100,000 each subsequent season. His predecessor, Neal Brown, earned $4 million this season before being fired on December 1st.

Under the agreement, Rodriguez will also have a pool of $5 million annually for his on-field assistant coaches and $2.5 million for his football support staff.

Rodriguez, 61, was introduced to Morgantown on Friday for his second assignment. From 2001 to 2007, he had a 60-26 record at West Virginia.

The Mountaineers went 6-6 this season under Brown and will face No. 25 Memphis in the Frisco Bowl on Tuesday night.

After he left for Michigan in December 2007, Rodriguez said that promises made by a previous West Virginia administration had not been kept and his request for more money for his assistant coaches was rejected. Rodriguez said his relationship with then-athletic director Ed Pastilong had fallen apart in August 2007 to the point where the two barely spoke to each other.

In December 2006, Rodriguez considered and then turned down a six-year, $12 million offer to coach at Alabama – a job later accepted by Nick Saban. Rodriguez then received an additional payment of $100,000 for his assistant coaches at West Virginia. He later said that before he left for Michigan, he was denied another request for an additional $50,000 for the assistant coaching pool.

Rodriguez spent three seasons at Michigan and six at Arizona before being fired from his head coaching job in each case. He spent the last three seasons as head coach at Jacksonville State, which won the Conference USA championship game against Western Kentucky earlier this month.

Under his agreement, West Virginia will pay Rodriguez’s $1.25 million buyout to Jacksonville State. He will be required to pay 25% of his total compensation over the life of the contract if he leaves before the contract expires, and Rodriguez will receive 50% of his remaining total compensation if he is released.