The highest-paid head coach in the Pac-12 according to the the USA TODAY Sports coaches salary database is Oregon’s Dan Lanning. The second-year head coach is making $6.6 million to lead the Ducks and has the highest-known buyout in the conference at $44.3 million.
The second highest-paid coach in the conference may be a surprise to some as it is Utah’s Kyle Whittingham. The 63-year-old Whittingham has been the head coach in Salt Lake City since 2005 and has led the Utes to back-to-back conference championships while owning a career 158-75 record.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders is the fourth highest-paid coach in the Pac-12 in his first year with the program, making $5.5 million this season. He notably has quite a low buyout at just $18.3 million.
Two Pac-12 head coaches’ salaries are not available in the USA TODAY database. Those two head coaches are Southern California’s Lincoln Riley and Stanford’s Troy Taylor. While there are limited details about Riley’s contract known, it is likely that his salary would not just make him the highest-paid head coach in the Pac-12 by a large margin but also one of the highest-paid head coaches in all of college football.
Check out the full listing for Pac-12 head coaches.
| Head Coach | Team | FBS Rank | Salary (millions) | Buyout (millions) |
| Dan Lanning | Oregon | 19 | $6.6 | $44.3 |
| Kyle Whittingham | Utah | 23 | $6.3 | $12.2 |
| Chip Kelly | UCLA | 27 | $5.9 | $8.7 |
| Deion Sanders | Colorado | 32 | $5.5 | $18.3 |
| Jonathan Smith | Oregon State | 37 | $4.8 | $17.5 |
| Justin Wilcox | California | 40 | $4.4 | $20.7 |
| Kalen DeBoer | Washington | 44 | $4.2 | $32.2 |
| Kenny Dillingham | Arizona State | 52 | $3.8 | $15.8 |
| Jedd Fisch | Arizona | 54 | $2.8 | $9.1 |
| Jake Dickert | Washington State | 61 | $2.7 | $3.7 |
| Lincoln Riley | Southern California | – | – | – |
| Troy Taylor | Stanford | – | – | – |
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