A new list of coach’s salaries is out. USA TODAY Sports has compiled a comprehensive list of all FBS coaches, their salaries, buyouts and more.
Georgia’s Kirby Smart ranks as the highest paid coach in college football at just north of $13M a year. Dabo Swinney of Clemson ranks No. 2 on the list at a tad more than $11M a year.
Texas’ Steve Sarkisian ranks No. 3 at $10.6M a year.
Sark’s initial contract when he was hired by Texas was on January 2, 2021 as the Longhorns 31st head football coach was six years, $34.2 million for an average of $5.7M a year.
After Texas went to the college football playoff last year, he was given a four-year contract extension through 2030 that also increased his salary for the 2024 season to $10.3 million.
Six of the Top 10 and 12 of the top 25 salaries are from the SEC.
USA TODAY Sports breaks down the full rankings by most overpaid, most underpaid and coaches set for big raises.
|
Rank
|
Coach
|
School
|
Total Pay
|
Conf.
|
2024 Buyout
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kirby Smart | Georgia | $13,282,580 | SEC | $118,083,333 |
| 2 | Dabo Swinney | Clemson | $11,132,775 | ACC | $60,000,000 |
| 3 | Steve Sarkisian | Texas | $10,600,000 | SEC | $55,044,583 |
| 4 | Lincoln Riley | USC | $10,043,418 | B10 | – |
| 5 | Ryan Day | Ohio St. | $10,021,250 | B10 | $37,276,042 |
| 6 | Mike Norvell | Florida St. | $10,000,000 | ACC | $63,778,333 |
| 7 | Kalen DeBoer | Alabama | $10,000,000 | SEC | $70,050,000 |
| 8 | Brian Kelly | LSU | $9,975,000 | SEC | $61,738,333 |
| 9 | Mark Stoops | Kentucky | $9,013,600 | SEC | $44,437,500 |
| 10 | Lane Kiffin | Ole Miss | $9,000,000 | SEC | $36,590,000 |
| 11 | Eliah Drinkwitz | Missouri | $9,000,000 | SEC | $28,312,500 |
| 12 | Josh Heupel | Tennessee | $9,000,000 | SEC | $37,500,000 |
| 13 | James Franklin | Penn St. | $8,500,000 | B10 | $56,666,667 |
| 14 | Dan Lanning | Oregon | $8,200,000 | B10 | $45,366,667 |
| 15 | Brent Venables | Oklahoma | $8,152,000 | SEC | $44,808,333 |
| 16 | Mario Cristobal | Miami (FL) | $7,783,059 | ACC | – |
| 17 | Mike Gundy | Ok. St. | $7,750,000 | B12 | $25,359,375 |
| 18 | Luke Fickell | Wisconsin | $7,725,000 | B10 | $40,186,667 |
| 19 | Jedd Fisch | Washington | $7,700,023 | B10 | $40,239,960 |
| 20 | Lance Leipold | Kansas | $7,500,000 | B12 | $27,800,000 |
| 21 | Billy Napier | Florida | $7,370,000 | SEC | $26,704,167 |
| 22 | Jonathan Smith | Michigan St. | $7,250,000 | B10 | $39,787,083 |
| 23 | Kirk Ferentz | Iowa | $7,000,000 | B10 | $31,000,000 |
| 24 | Mike Elko | Texas A&M | $7,000,000 | SEC | $27,124,985 |
| 25 | Hugh Freeze | Auburn | $6,728,100 | SEC | $20,312,500 |
| 26 | P.J. Fleck | Minnesota | $6,700,000 | B10 | $23,302,500 |
| 27 | Pat Narduzzi | Pittsburgh | $6,699,551 | ACC | – |
| 28 | Marcus Freeman | Notre Dame | $6,687,754 | Ind | – |
| 29 | Bret Bielema | Illinois | $6,650,000 | B10 | $29,125,000 |
| 30 | Kyle Whittingham | Utah | $6,525,000 | B12 | $9,250,000 |
| 31 | Matt Rhule | Nebraska | $6,500,000 | B10 | $56,287,500 |
| 32 | Sam Pittman | Arkansas | $6,498,000 | SEC | – |
| 33 | Shane Beamer | S. Carolina | $6,401,996 | SEC | $13,751,563 |
| 34 | Greg Schiano | Rutgers | $6,250,000 | B10 | $28,683,983 |
| 35 | Sherrone Moore | Michigan | $6,000,000 | B10 | $18,029,166 |
| 36 | Dave Doeren | NC St. | $5,965,377 | ACC | $15,709,416 |
| 37 | Mike Locksley | Maryland | $5,801,900 | B10 | $17,344,167 |
| 38 | Deion Sanders | Colorado | $5,700,000 | B12 | $14,081,250 |
| 39 | Jeff Brohm | Louisville | $5,631,057 | ACC | $39,325,000 |
| 40 | Chris Klieman | Kansas St. | $5,250,000 | B12 | $29,625,000 |
| 41 | Sonny Dykes | TCU | $5,008,414 | B12 | – |
| 42 | Mack Brown | N. Carolina | $5,000,000 | ACC | $2,812,500 |
| 43 | Dave Clawson | Wake For. | $4,781,410 | ACC | – |
| 44 | Brent Pry | VA Tech | $4,775,000 | ACC | – |
| 45 | Justin Wilcox | California | $4,600,000 | ACC | $15,912,500 |
| 46 | Dave Aranda | Baylor | $4,540,885 | B12 | – |
| 47 | Willie Fritz | Houston | $4,500,000 | B12 | $19,000,000 |
| 48 | Tony Elliott | Virginia | $4,251,000 | ACC | $15,225,000 |
| 49 | Curt Cignetti | Indiana | $4,250,000 | B10 | $17,000,000 |
| 50 | Jeff Lebby | Miss St. | $4,250,000 | SEC | $14,256,250 |
| 51 | Joey McGuire | Texas Tech | $4,247,960 | B12 | $12,934,091 |
| 52 | Ryan Walters | Purdue | $4,050,000 | B10 | $9,590,625 |
| 53 | Matt Campbell | Iowa St. | $4,009,886 | B12 | $16,333,333 |
| 54 | Neal Brown | West Virginia | $4,000,000 | B12 | $9,775,000 |
| 55 | Gus Malzahn | UCF | $4,000,000 | B12 | $13,750,000 |
| 56 | Kenny Dillingham | Arizona St. | $3,950,000 | B12 | $17,207,408 |
| 57 | Scott Satterfield | Cincinnati | $3,600,000 | B12 | $15,700,000 |
| 58 | DeShaun Foster | UCLA | $3,250,000 | B10 | $7,940,000 |
| 59 | Clark Lea | Vanderbilt | $3,189,744 | SEC | – |
| 60 | Brent Brennan | Arizona | $3,100,000 | B12 | $13,625,000 |
| 61 | Brent Key | Georgia Tech | $2,900,000 | ACC | $5,119,167 |
| 62 | Jake Dickert | Wazzu | $2,550,000 | P12 | $2,531,250 |
| 63 | Alex Golesh | South Florida | $2,503,099 | AAC | – |
| 64 | Jeff Traylor | UTSA | $2,500,000 | AAC | $12,667,500 |
| 65 | Mike Houston | East Carolina | $2,457,363 | AAC | $3,104,338 |
| 66 | Rhett Lashlee | SMU | $2,360,640 | ACC | – |
| 67 | Jeff Monken | Army | $2,350,000 | AAC | $7,545,833 |
| 68 | Ryan Silverfield | Memphis | $2,200,000 | AAC | $6,140,000 |
| 69 | Trent Bray | Oregon St. | $2,000,008 | P12 | $5,100,017 |
| 70 | Stan Drayton | Temple | $1,888,979 | AAC | – |
| 71 | Jay Norvell | Colorado St. | $1,800,000 | MWC | $2,500,000 |
| 72 | Brian Newberry | Navy | $1,800,000 | AAC | – |
| 73 | Sean Lewis | San Diego St. | $1,753,100 | MWC | $5,478,438 |
| 74 | Barry Odom | UNLV | $1,750,000 | MWC | $6,156,666 |
| 75 | Jim Mora | Connecticut | $1,700,000 | Ind | $2,881,250 |
| 76 | Ken Niumatalolo | San Jose St. | $1,500,000 | MWC | $6,262,500 |
| 77 | Trent Dilfer | UAB | $1,450,000 | AAC | $4,116,667 |
| 78 | Eric Morris | North Texas | $1,325,000 | AAC | $2,070,000 |
| 79 | Chuck Martin | Miami (OH) | $1,257,984 | MAC | $2,250,000 |
| 80 | B. Mendenhall | New Mexico | $1,200,000 | MWC | $4,800,000 |
| 81 | S. Danielson | Boise St. | $1,135,008 | MWC | $3,972,525 |
| 82 | Jason Candle | Toledo | $1,125,000 | MAC | $1,000,000 |
| 83 | Jay Sawvel | Wyoming | $1,100,000 | MWC | $4,791,667 |
| 84 | Jeff Choate | Nevada | $1,075,000 | MWC | $3,500,000 |
| 85 | Rich Rodriguez | J’ville St. | $1,056,000 | CUSA | $5,207,333 |
| 86 | Tim Beck | Coastal Car. | $1,050,000 | SBC | $2,428,125 |
| 87 | Jim McElwain | Central Mich | $1,048,493 | MAC | $1,800,000 |
| 88 | G.J. Kinne | Texas St. | $1,002,000 | SBC | $4,041,667 |
| 89 | Sonny Cumbie | LA Tech | $1,000,000 | CUSA | $1,625,000 |
| 90 | Derek Mason | Middle Tenn | $1,000,000 | CUSA | $4,083,333 |
| 91 | Tom Herman | FAU | $1,000,000 | AAC | $4,183,333 |
| 92 | Biff Poggi | Charlotte | $1,000,000 | AAC | $1,541,667 |
| 93 | Mike Bloomgren | Rice | $981,781 | AAC | – |
| 94 | Shawn Clark | App St. | $950,020 | SBC | $1,000,000 |
| 95 | Tyson Helton | W. Kentucky | $927,180 | CUSA | $3,150,000 |
| 96 | Gerad Parker | Troy | $900,000 | SBC | $2,925,000 |
| 97 | Don Brown | UMass | $882,586 | Ind | $800,000 |
| 98 | Dell McGee | Georgia St. | $853,000 | SBC | $2,175,150 |
| 99 | Lance Taylor | Western Mich | $850,000 | MAC | $2,358,750 |
| 100 | Ricky Rahne | Old Dominion | $845,941 | SBC | $1,321,783 |
| 101 | Major Applewhite | S. Alabama | $825,000 | SBC | $2,333,333 |
| 102 | Butch Jones | Arkansas St. | $825,000 | SBC | $1,041,667 |
| 103 | Will Hall | South Miss | $824,000 | SBC | $892,667 |
| 104 | Clay Helton | GA Southern | $805,000 | SBC | $1,910,313 |
| 105 | Scotty Walden | UTEP | $800,000 | CUSA | $2,041,667 |
| 106 | M. Desormeaux | Louisiana | $772,800 | SBC | $903,500 |
| 107 | Nate Dreiling | Utah St. | $766,668 | MWC | $91,667 |
| 108 | Bob Chesney | JMU | $766,500 | SBC | $2,820,000 |
| 109 | Charles Huff | Marshall | $755,500 | SBC | $125,917 |
| 110 | Mike MacIntyre | FIU | $750,000 | CUSA | $1,140,625 |
| 111 | Pete Lembo | Buffalo | $732,500 | MAC | $2,041,667 |
| 112 | Tim Albin | Ohio | $709,330 | MAC | $1,894,052 |
| 113 | T. Hammock | NIU | $708,086 | MAC | $1,896,668 |
| 114 | Chris Creighton | Eastern Mich | $707,500 | MAC | $1,500,000 |
| 115 | Timmy Chang | Hawaii | $705,008 | MWC | $456,521 |
| 116 | Mike Neu | Ball St. | $705,000 | MAC | $550,000 |
| 117 | K.C. Keeler | Sam Houston | $625,000 | CUSA | $1,291,677 |
| 118 | Joe Moorhead | Akron | $620,000 | MAC | $982,813 |
| 119 | Bryant Vincent | ULM | $600,000 | SBC | – |
| 120 | Tony Sanchez | NM St. | $600,000 | CUSA | $2,450,000 |
| 121 | Scot Loeffler | Bowl. Green | $582,000 | MAC | $767,000 |
| 122 | Kenni Burns | Kent St. | $527,100 | MAC | $356,250 |
| 123 | Jamey Chadwell | Liberty | $479,629 | CUSA | – |
| 124 | Tim Skipper | Fresno St. | $461,667 | MWC | $46,667 |
| 125 | Brian Bohannon | Kenn. St. | $376,000 | CUSA | $605,333 |
| 126 | Kevin Wilson | Tulsa | – | AAC | – |
| 127 | Manny Diaz | Duke | – | ACC | – |
| 128 | Bill O’Brien | BC | – | ACC | – |
| 129 | Kalani Sitake | BYU | – | B12 | – |
| 130 | Jon Sumrall | Tulane | – | AAC | – |
| 131 | Fran Brown | Syracuse | – | ACC | – |
| 132 | Troy Taylor | Stanford | – | ACC | – |
| 133 | David Braun | N’western | – | B10 | – |
| 134 | Troy Calhoun | Air Force | – | MWC | – |
