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College Football Coaches Salaries and Buyouts

Brett Friedlander

By Brett Friedlander

Last Updated:

Winning a national championship has its perks.

Beyond the trophy and the noterity that come with having the best team in college football, there are also financial rewards for the men who them in the form of contract extensions and hefty raises. So it’s no surprise that some of the nation’s highest-paid coaches are those with titles on their resumés.

Here is the coaching salary and buyout information entering the 2025 season.

Highest-Paid College Football Coaches

On this page, we’ll identify the highest-paid coaches in college football. what they make, how much it will take to buy them out and more, based on USA Today’s salary database.

Let’s dive in:

CoachSchool2024 Salary
Kirby SmartGeorgia$13,282,580
Dabo SwinneyClemson$11,132,775
Steve SarkisianTexas$10,600,000
Lincoln RileyUSC$10,043,418
Ryan DayOhio State$10,021,250
Mike NorvellFlorida State$10,000,000
Kalen DeBoerAlabama$10,000,000
Brian KellyLSU$9,975,000
Mark StoopsKentucky$9,013,600
Lane KiffinOle Miss$9,000,000
Eliah DrinkwitzMissouri$9,000,000
Josh HeupelTennessee$9,000,000
James FranklinPenn State$8,500,000
Dan LanningOregon$8,200,000
Brent VenablesOklahoma$8,152,000
Mario CristobalMiami (FL)$7,783,059
Mike GundyOklahoma State$7,750,000
Luke FickellWisconsin$7,725,000
Jedd FischWashington$7,700,023
Lance LeipoldKansas$7,500,000
Billy NapierFlorida$7,370,000
Jonathan SmithMichigan State$7,250,000
Kirk FerentzIowa$7,000,000
Mike ElkoTexas A&M$7,000,000

SEC Football Coaches Salaries

Now that Nick Saban has retired, Georgia’s Kirby Smart has become the highest-paid coach in the SEC. How much do the conference’s football coaches make? Here’s a look at what each SEC football coach who was at his school in 2024 earned last season:

CoachSchool2024 Salary
Kirby SmartGeorgia$13,282,580
Steve SarkisianTexas$10,600,000
Kalen DeBoerAlabama$10,000,000
Brian KellyLSU$9,975,000
Mark StoopsKentucky$9,013,600
Lane KiffinOle Miss$9,000,000
Eli DrinkwitzMissouri$9,000,000
Josh HeupelTennessee$9,000,000
Brent VenablesOklahoma$8,152,000
Billy NapierFlorida$7,370,000
Mike ElkoTexas A&M$7,000,000
Hugh FreezeAuburn$6,728,100
Sam PittmanArkansas$6,498.000
Shane BeamerSouth Carolina$6,401,996
Jeff Lebby Mississippi State$4,250,000
Clark LeaVanderbilt$3,189,744

ACC Football Coaches Salaries

Dabo Swinney remains the highest-paid coach in the ACC. But the addition of 6-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick has brought about a major shakeup in the league’s salary hierarchy.

CoachSchool2025 Salary
Dabo SwinneyClemson$11,132,775
Mike NorvellFlorida State$10,000,00
Bill BelichickNorth Carolina$10,000,000
Mario CristobalMiami (FL)$7,783,059
Pat NarduzziPittsburgh$6,699,551
Dave DoerenNorth Carolina State$5,965,377
Jeff BrohmLouisville$5,631,057
Jake DickertWake Forest$4,800,000
Brent PryVirginia Tech$4,775,000
Justin WilcoxCalifornia$4,600,000
Tony ElliottVirginia$4,251,000
Brent KeyGeorgia Tech$2,900,000
Bill O'Brien*Boston CollegeN/A
Manny Diaz*DukeN/A
Rhett Lashlee*SMUN/A
Frank Reich (interim)*StanfordN/A
Fran Brown*SyracuseN/A

* As private institutions, Boston College, Duke, SMU, Stanford and Syracuse are not required to publish contract details.

Big Ten Football Coaches Salaries

Ryan Day didn’t just get some added job security by leading Ohio State to the 2024-25 national championship. He also got a bump in pay that jumps him (almost) to the top of the class among highest-paid Big Ten coaches. He’s now second to Southern Cal’s Lincoln Riley.

CoachSchool2025 Salary
Lincoln RileyUSC$10,043,018
Ryan DayOhio State$10,021,250
James FranklinPenn State$8,500,000
Dan LanningOregon$8,200,000
Luke FickellWisconsin$7,725,000
Jed FischWashington$7,000,023
Jonathan SmithMichigan State$7,250,000
Kirk FerentzIowa$7,000,000
PJ FleckMinnesota$6,700,000
Bret BielemaIllinois$6,650,000
Matt RhuleNebraska$6,500,000
Greg SchianoRutgers$6,250,000
Barry OdomPurdue$6,200,000
Sherrone MooreMichigan$6,000,000
Mike LocksleyMaryland$5,801,900
Curt CignettiIndiana$4,250,000
DeShaun FosterUCLA$3,250,000
David BraunNorthwesternN/A*

* As a private institution, Northwestern is not required to publish contract details.

College Football Coach Buyouts

Buyouts are a big topic of discussion in college football these days. As pressure to win (and win big) in college football increases, a down year can lead to a coach losing his job.

With that said, let’s take a look at some of the buyouts, both massive and school-friendly, for the current crop of SEC, ACC and Big Ten coaches. These buyout numbers reflect what a school would have to pay a coach to fire him without cause before the end of the 2024 season (figures courtesy of USA Today):

SEC Football Coach Buyouts

CoachSchoolBuyout (as of 2024)
Kirby SmartGeorgia$118,083,333
Kalen DeBoerAlabama$70,050,000
Brian KellyLSU$61,758,333
Steve SarkisianTexas$55,044,583
Brent VenablesOklahoma$44,808,333
Mark StoopsKentucky$44,437,500
Josh HeupelTennessee$37,500,000
Lane KiffinOle Miss$36,950,000
Eli DrinkwitzMizzou$28,597,750
Mike ElkoTexas A&M$27,124,985
Billy NapierFlorida$26,704,167
Hugh FreezeAuburn$20,312,500
Jeff LebbyMississippi State$14,256,250
Shane BeamerSouth Carolina$13,751,563
Sam PittmanArkansas$8,10,000-12,150,000

ACC Football Coach Buyouts

CoachSchool2025 Buyout
Mike NorvellFlorida State$63,778,333
Mario CristobalMiami$62,000,000
Dabo SwinneyClemson$60,000,000
Jeff BrohmLouisville$39,325,000
Justin WilcoxCal$15,912,500
Dave DoerenNorth Carolina State$15,709,416
Tony ElliottVirginia$15,225,000
Brent PryVirginia Tech$11,000,000
Pat NarduzziPittsburgh$7,600,000
Brent KeyGeorgia Tech$5,119,167
Bill BelichickNorth Carolina$1,000,000
Bill O'BrienBoston CollegeN/A
Manny DiazDukeN/A
Rhett LashleeSMUN/A
Frank Reich (interim)StanfordN/A
Fran BrownSyracuseN/A
Jake DickertWake ForestN/A

Big Ten Football Coach Buyouts

CoachSchoolBuyout (as of 2024)
Lincoln RileyUSC$88,000,000
Curt CignettiIndiana$72,000,000
James FranklinPenn State$56,666,667
Matt RhuleNebraska$56,287,500
Dan LanningOregon$45,366,667
Ryan DayOhio State$52,416,666
Kirk FerentzIowa$43,000,000
Jedd FischWashington$40,239,960
Luke FickellWisconsin$40,186,667
Jonathan SmithMichigan State$39,787,083
Bret BielemaIllinois$29,125,000
Greg SchianoRutgers$28,683,983
Barry OdomPurdue$24,750,000
PJ FleckMinnesota$23,302,500
Sherrone MooreMichigan$21,500,000
Mike LocksleyMaryland$12,000,000
DeShaun FosterUCLA$5,270,000
David BraunNorthwesternN/A

All salary and buyout figures were obtained from a database compiled by USA Today.

Brett Friedlander

Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.

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