I once read that there’s no occupation in America that has less job security than that of a college football head coach. Look at Tennessee. The Volunteers are on their seventh head coach since 2009.
But the risk of being fired after just a year or two does not outweigh the reward — millions of dollars to coach college football.
Using USA TODAY’s coaching salary database, SportsNaut compiled a list of the 16 highest paid college football coaches for the 2022 season, taking into account new contracts that have been issued this offseason.
Georgia’s Kirby Smart signed a new 10-year, $112.5 million contract, making him the highest-paid coach in college football.
The SEC leads the way with an average head coaching salary of $4.3 million for the 2022 season followed by the Big 12 at $3.4 million.
Here are the 16 highest paid college football head coaches for the 2022 season: