College Football Coaches
By Chris Wright
Last Updated:
Going back decades, SEC football coaches are very much the royalty of the South. Players come and go at the storied SEC football programs, but the coach can often be the mainstay and the face of the program for decades.
Unless, of course, things aren’t going well. Time and time again, programs will opt to pay large buyouts just to get rid of a failed coach. The SEC football coach matters, and every football program down south is desperate to find “the guy.”
The current crop of SEC football coaches is perhaps as varied as it has ever been. Sure, any list of SEC football coaches (and perhaps all NCAA football coaches) starts with former Alabama head coach Nick Saban, but he retired in 2023. But Kirby Smart has Georgia on the rise as arguably the “new Alabama.” Veteran coaches such as Steve Sarkisian and Lane Kiffin are all angling for that next level of success at their current programs. Younger, but experienced, guys like Will Stein, Ryan Silverfield, Alex Golesh and others are trying to bring their programs back into championship contention.
SEC Football Coach Bio Pages
When it comes to SEC football coaches, there is a wide range of experience. Kirby Smart is the only active SEC coach who has won a national championship.
But every SEC coach brings something unique to the table, and all of them have their own distinct histories and personalities.
To learn more about each of the 16 current SEC football coaches entering the 2026 season, check out our in-depth coach bio pages below:
- Alabama: Kalen DeBoer
- Arkansas: Ryan Silverfield
- Auburn: Alex Golesh
- Florida: Jon Sumrall
- Georgia: Kirby Smart
- Kentucky: Will Stein
- LSU: Lane Kiffin
- Mississippi State: Jeff Lebby
- Mizzou: Eli Drinkwitz
- Oklahoma: Brent Venables
- Ole Miss: Pete Golding
- South Carolina: Shane Beamer
- Tennessee: Josh Heupel
- Texas: Steve Sarkisian
- Texas A&M: Mike Elko
- Vanderbilt: Clark Lea
Next, we’ll take a look at some interesting information involving the current SEC football coaches, including salaries, buyout numbers and overall SEC records.
SEC Football Coaches Salaries
How much do the SEC football coaches make? Here’s a look at each SEC coach’s salary who was at his school in 2025:
Vanderbilt does not publicly release its salary information, so Clark Lea’s compensation reportedly was $3.189 million.
As you can see, being among the 16 SEC football coaches is a lucrative profession. The pressure is high, yes, but so is the compensation. Depending on who has strong 2026 seasons, it’s safe to say more raises will be handed out this coming offseason.
Other schools are always eager to poach top talent from the SEC, so keeping the paychecks large is one way the league keeps its elite coaching talent in place.
SEC Football Coaches Buyouts
SEC athletic departments have deep pockets, and that means boosters and administrators aren’t afraid to pull the plug and fire a coach if the team is struggling on the field. We’ve seen some big-time buyouts paid out in recent years — though none larger than the $77.5 million Texas A&M paid to Jimbo Fisher after firing him late in the 2023 season.
That trend is sure to continue moving forward, so let’s take a look at each SEC coach’s current buyout number. Here’s what each SEC school would owe its coach if he’s fired before the conclusion of the 2024 season:
(Source: USA TODAY)
Vanderbilt doesn’t release contract information publicly.
Jimbo Fisher Buyout
Jimbo Fisher’s buyout numbers deserve their own section on this page, as it was a constant source of conversation in College Station and around the SEC.
Texas A&M finally fired Fisher during the 2023 season. Here’s a breakdown of how much Texas A&M would have owed Fisher if they waited longer to fire him after the conclusion of each campaign:
- 2024: $67,550,000
- 2025: $58,200,000
- 2026: $48,750,000
- 2027: $39,200,000
- 2028: $29,550,000
- 2029: $19,800,000
- 2030: $9,950,000
Fisher’s buyout remains the largest ever paid to a college football coach.
Winningest SEC Football Coaches of All-Time
Some of the best coaches in the country have brought their skills to the SEC — Bear Bryant, Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, General Robert Neyland, Johnny Majors, Urban Meyer and many, many more — with varying degrees of success.
In the SEC, dominance is measured not only on a national scale, but by how well you do against your fellow SEC squads. Below, you can see the 25 coaches with the most career victories as an SEC head coach against other SEC teams entering the 2025 season:
(Source: SEC Media Guide)
SEC Championship Game victories are included in the above totals. Nick Saban retired just before he was able to chase down Bear Bryant’s all-time SEC win total.
College Football Coaching Legends
While this page is mostly focused on current SEC football coaches, it wouldn’t be complete without mentioning several current and past coaches who have either led SEC programs to great success or have been thorns in the sides of SEC squads.
So, while they aren’t necessarily active SEC coaches, here are some biography pages for some legendary coaches (past and present) in the college football world:
- Paul “Bear” Bryant
- Urban Meyer
- Nick Saban
- Steve Spurrier
- Jimbo Fisher
- Lou Holtz
- Robert Neyland
- Vince Dooley
- Johnny Majors
- Warren Powers
- Ray Graves
- R.C. Slocum
Which current coaches will become the next crop of legends? We’ll see what happens over the next few years of college football as Nick Saban (likely) inches closer to retirement and a new batch of budding legends like Kirby Smart and others take over the mantle.
ACC Football Coaches
- Boston College: Bill O’Brien
- Cal: Tosh Lupoi
- Clemson: Dabo Swinney
- Duke: Manny Diaz
- Florida State: Mike Norvell
- Georgia Tech: Brent Key
- Louisville: Jeff Brohm
- Miami: Mario Cristobal
- NC State: Dave Doeren
- North Carolina: Bill Belichick
- Pittsburgh: Pat Narduzzi
- SMU: Rhett Lashlee
- Stanford: Tavita Pritchard
- Syracuse: Fran Brown
- Virginia: Tony Elliott
- Virginia Tech: James Franklin
- Wake Forest: Jake Dickert
- Notre Dame: Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame is a part-time ACC member in football)
Most recent ACC national champion: Clemson won the College Football Playoff national championship in 2018.
Big Ten Conference Football Coaches
- Illinois: Bret Bielema
- Indiana: Curt Cignetti
- Iowa: Kirk Ferentz
- Maryland: Mike Locksley
- Michigan: Kyle Whittingham
- Michigan State: Pat Fitzgerald
- Minnesota: PJ Fleck
- Nebraska: Matt Rhule
- Northwestern: David Braun
- Ohio State: Ryan Day
- Oregon: Dan Lanning
- Penn State: Matt Campbell
- Purdue: Barry Odom
- Rutgers: Greg Schiano
- UCLA: Bob Chesney
- USC: Lincoln Riley
- Washington: Jedd Fisch
- Wisconsin: Luke Fickell
Most recent Big Ten national champion: Indiana won the 2025 national championship, following Michigan’s national title in 2023 and Ohio State’s in 2024.
Big 12 Conference Football Coaches
- Arizona: Brent Brennan
- Arizona State: Kenny Dillingham
- Baylor: Dave Aranda
- BYU: Kalani Sitake
- Cincinnati: Scott Satterfield
- Colorado: Deion Sanders
- Houston: Willie Fritz
- Iowa State: Jimmy Rogers
- Kansas: Lance Leipold
- Kansas State: Collin Klein
- Oklahoma State: Eric Morris
- TCU: Sonny Dykes
- Texas Tech: Joey McGuire
- UCF: Scott Frost
- Utah: Morgan Scalley
- West Virginia: Rich Rodriguez
Most recent national champion: Texas won the 2005 national championship but left the Big 12 for the SEC. Oklahoma won the 2000 national championship but also left for the SEC. Among current Big 12 members, Colorado is the most recent national champion, having shared the 1990 title.
Managing Editor
A 30-time APSE award-winning editor with previous stints at the Miami Herald, The Indianapolis Star and News & Observer, Executive Editor Chris Wright oversees editorial operations for Saturday Down South.
