The USA TODAY database on NCAA football coach salaries updated for 2023 this week, and unsurprisingly, the top of the board was littered with SEC names.
The conference boasts seven of the 10 highest-paid coaches in the country and 12 of the top 25.
The SEC is the only conference with multiple coaches who have won multiple national championships, Alabama‘s Nick Saban with an all-time record of seven and Georgia‘s Kirby Smart with the last two. Saban and Smart are the only two SEC coaches making more than $10 million, first and third in the country, respectively.
Here’s how much their conference competitors are making.
| Name | School | Total Pay | National Rank | Total Buyout |
| Nick Saban | Alabama | $11,407,000 | 1st | $44,800,000 |
| Kirby Smart | Georgia | $10,705,600 | 3rd | $92,625,000 |
| Brian Kelly | LSU | $9,975,000 | 6th | $70,018,333 |
| Jimbo Fisher | Texas A&M | $9,150,000 | 7th | $72,562,500 |
| Mark Stoops | Kentucky | $9,013,600 | 8th | $51,187,500 |
| Josh Heupel | Tennessee | $9,000,000 | 9th | $46,500,000 |
| Lane Kiffin | Ole Miss | $9,000,000 | 10th | N/A |
| Billy Napier | Florida | $7,270,000 | 16th | $32,384,716 |
| Hugh Freeze | Auburn | $6,500,000 | 20th | $25,187,500 |
| Sam Pittman | Arkansas | $6,357,500 | 22nd | N/A |
| Shane Beamer | South Carolina | $6,125,000 | 24th | $18,255,521 |
| Elijah Drinkwitz | Missouri | $6,000,000 | 25th | $20,437,500 |
| Clark Lea | Vanderbilt | $3,051,881 | 56th | N/A |
| Zach Arnett | Mississippi State | $3,000,000 | 58th | N/A |