Jill Ellis agrees to new contract to stay USWNT manager

Jill Ellis will have a new contract to go along with her Women's World Cup medal. The United States manager has agreed to a new multi-year contract that will keep her the team's manager, according to the Washington Post.

Ellis' previous contract with U.S. Soccer expired last week and while the federation had options to keep her for up to five years, they decided to work on a new contract instead. That new deal will go into effect immediately and will take her at least through the 2019 World Cup.

There is no word on how much Ellis will be paid under the terms of her new contract, but it's safe to say that she will get more than the $215,000 that was the maximum base salary she could get on her old deal.

It's not a surprise that U.S. Soccer is committing to Ellis long-term now. The federation stuck by her even as the team struggled in the year leading up to the World Cup and were unimpressive in the tournament's early matches. Now that she orchestrated a strong finish and brought the World Cup back to the U.S. for the first time in 16 years, they weren't going to walk away from Ellis now, nor should they. She earned the World Cup, a chance to go for an Olympic gold medal next year, and then to gear up for another World Cup in four years.

The team that Ellis has going forward will be very different than the one she had in Canada, though. She relied on veterans and experience for much of her tenure so far, even going as far as saying breakout star Julie Johnston only got a chance because of injuries, but many of those older players are going to retire or be forced out in the next cycle. She'll have no choice but to bring along more younger players and put together a team with new faces, as opposed to preserving the squad that had been together for years. That is an all new challenge for Ellis.

The future of the U.S. is very much cloudy. A period of transition is coming, but that's on the field. When it comes to management, it's the same as it has been -- Ellis. She just gets to do it with a new contract.