Mike Schultz’s turnaround of Lamar football has resulted in a contract extension.

Schultz signed an extension through the 2021 season, with an option for a one-year extension following.

Complete terms of the contract were not immediately available. Lamar athletic director Marco Born announced the signing Wednesday morning, adding he, Lamar President Kenneth Evans and Schultz went to work on the extension following this past season, which ended with the Cardinals’ first appearance in the NCAA Division I playoffs, a first-round loss to Northern Iowa.

“Mike has done a great job in a very short period of time building our program back to national respectability,” Born said in a news release. “We look forward to seeing where the program is headed under his direction.”

Schultz took over a Lamar team that had only one winning season in seven seasons in December 2016 and organized a five-win turnaround from a 2-9 mark in 2017 to 7-5 a season ago. Lamar won six straight games, three of them over teams that were ranked at the time of the game (and another that became ranked afterward).

Two of Schultz’s seniors, offensive lineman Garrett Bowery and safety Davon Jernigan, earned multiple All-America accolades in 2018.

“First, I want to thank Dr. Kenneth Evans and Marco Born for the hard work in getting this done,” Schultz said. “Both my wife and I are excited to be at Lamar University and part of the Golden Triangle. I look forward to building on the foundation of this past season and taking this program to the next level.”

Lamar will play six home games in 2019, including the first two games of the season against Bethel University of Tennessee and Mississippi Valley State.

•

I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews