Ole Miss is extending head baseball coach Mike Bianco’s contract to four years, the maximum length allowed in Mississippi, sources tell RebelGrove.com.

Terms should be finalized in the coming days, as the two sides have been in discussions for much of the past month.

Keith Carter is in his first round of contract decisions as the permanent athletics director. A year ago, with the Rebels making a super regional for the first time since 2014 but falling one game short of the College World Series, Carter declined to roll Bianco’s contract over from three to four years, which placed more emphasis on this year’s decision.

The 2014 season is the only time Bianco has coached with just one extra year left on a deal.

Ole Miss was 16-1 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the shutdown of the 2020 season.

Bianco’s salary was just shy of $1.2 million in 2020. His agent, Patrick Strong, per a website bulletpoint, notes Bianco's compensation as a top-five contract nationally since 2018. Carter gave multi-year contracts and raises to assistant coaches Mike Clement and Carl Lafferty after last season. Clement, last offseason, turned down an offer to be the lead assistant at Texas A&M, a year after turning down Kansas State's head coach position.

The negotiations are also include reworking portions of Bianco’s bonus structure that has largely been in place since the summer after Ole Miss went to the College World Series in 2014. Then-athletics director Ross Bjork negotiated a coach-friendly deal that allowed a litany of escalators to increase his base pay each season as bonuses were met.

It rewarded Bianco for quality seasons and consistency but over time inflated his salary without a super regional berth for the first four years of the agreement. Per sources, the new set up has a bonus structure more focused on super regionals and Omaha appearances.

Bianco's buyout has traditionally been a percentage of remaining salary owed in the total contract.

There’s also the economic reality associated with the pandemic. Schools are facing uncertain budget situations, so all decisions must carry the possibility of needed cutbacks. Ole Miss, like all schools across the college sports food chain, is preparing in case there's the need for salary cuts and other cost-saving measures once the fiscal year ends June 30.

Bianco is 767-440-1 in his 20 seasons in Oxford. He’s the third-winningest head coach in SEC baseball history, trailing only Ron Polk and Skip Bertman. Ole Miss has made the postseason in 16 of his 19 seasons with six super regional appearances and the third place finish in the 2014 College World Series.

Ole Miss volunteer assistant Marc MacMillan was recently named the Charleston Southern head coach, and Bianco is expected to promote operations director Chris Cleary to that position. Clearly has on-field assistant coach experience at Creighton and Butler.