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Theoretical salaries for SEC head coaches: How much should each make?
By Randy Capps
Published:
Football coaching salaries are higher across the industry than they’ve ever been, leading some to wonder how much is too much money to pay a football coach?
Alabama’s Nick Saban makes just shy of $7.1 million per season to lead SEC coaches while Missouri’s first-year coach Barry Odom has to make due with $2.35 million.
When taken in a vacuum, these numbers may seem high. But, when you consider how much revenue football programs generate, it changes the perspective.
It its last fiscal year, which ended in August 2015, the SEC generated $527.4 million from the SEC Network and the College Football Playoff. That’s a 60 percent increase from the 2014 filing.
So, as the money pours in, salaries will continue to climb. But what would happen if every SEC coaching contract were torn up, and coaches were paid based on their resume — and their contribution to the river of money flowing through the best conference in college football?
ALABAMA
Coach: Nick Saban
Actual salary: $7.09 million
Adjusted salary: tilt
With Saban’s overwhelming success and his revitalization of the Crimson Tide, it’s tough to quantify just how much he means to the University of Alabama.
The school’s athletic program generated more than $153 million in revenue last year, and Saban is a large part of the reason. Paying him $15 million per year would be out of line for one of the greatest coaches of all time.
AUBURN
Coach: Gus Malzahn
Actual salary: $4.35 million
Adjusted salary: $4 million
It’s hard to justify a pay bump for a man who, for some, begins this season on the hot seat. He’s 27-13 in three seasons at Auburn, but only 13-11 in SEC games. Another 2-6 league mark won’t go down well on the Plains in 2016.
ARKANSAS
Coach: Bret Bielema
Actual salary: $4.06 million
Adjusted salary: $4 million
The Razorbacks weren’t in the best shape when Bielema took over before the 2013 season. After a 3-9 mark in that first season, Arkansas has shown slight, but steady, improvement each season. Another bump in wins in 2016, and we’ll talk about a theoretical pay increase.
FLORIDA
Coach: Jim McElwain
Actual salary: $4.25 million
Adjusted salary: $5 million
If you win the SEC East in your first season, you deserve a raise. McElwain got a $750,000 raise to $4.25 million. McElwain’s Gators surpassed expectations last season, and fans are hopeful that he can sustain that success.
GEORGIA
Coach: Kirby Smart
Actual salary: $3.75 million
Adjusted salary: same
This is a new contract, and one that feels about right for a highly respected assistant diving in to his first head coaching job. School officials would love to have to pay him more very soon, since that would mean he’s winning a bunch of important football games.
KENTUCKY
Coach: Mark Stoops
Actual salary: $3.5 million
Adjusted salary: $2.5 million
Kentucky was in bad shape when Stoops took over, and he’s posted a 12-24 record in Lexington — including a 4-20 mark in SEC games. Back-to-back 5-7 seasons are equal parts encouraging and frustrating to Wildcats fans, and the fourth-year coach begins 2016 under a bit of pressure to produce a winning season.
LSU
Coach: Les Miles
Actual salary: $4.39 million
Adjusted salary: $8 million
Look, $8 million is a lot of money for a guy who was almost run out of Baton Rouge last fall, but how many national championship winning coaches are there? He’s also won two outright SEC titles and three SEC West crowns. His act may be wearing a bit thin for some, but he has one of the better resumes around and continues to recruit at an elite level.
MISSISSIPPI STATE
Coach: Dan Mullen
Actual salary: More than $4 million
Adjusted salary: $5 million
Mullen has elevated Mississippi State to new heights since taking over for Sylvester Croom before the 2009 season. He’s 55-35 overall, with a 26-30 mark in league games. He’s a gifted recruiter who, despite being a candidate in nearly every high profile coaching search, has stayed in Starkville.
MISSOURI
Coach: Barry Odom
Actual salary: $2.35 million
Adjusted salary: Same
Another new contract for a first-time head coach. Odom has some big shoes to fill with the departure of Gary Pinkel, and a significant on-field rebuilding job ahead of him as well.
OLE MISS
Coach: Hugh Freeze
Actual salary: $4.95 million
Adjusted salary: $6 million
Freeze is 34-18 in four seasons in Oxford, and has raised the team’s profile dramatically. He’s beaten Saban each of the past two years. Three of his players are likely to be first-round picks in this year’s NFL Draft, and with his recruiting prowess, there’s more talent in the pipeline, too.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Coach: Will Muschamp
Actual salary: $3 million
Adjusted salary: Same
This was a fair contract for both sides. South Carolina gets a coach with some experience, and Muschamp gets a chance to show he’s grown after his time in Gainesville.
TENNESSEE
Coach: Butch Jones
Actual salary: $4.13 million
Adjusted salary: $4 million
He’s 21-17 in three years in Knoxville, but the team has improved steadily each year. This could be the breakout season for Jones and the Volunteers, and if that happens, his real and theoretical salaries will move up substantially.
TEXAS A&M
Coach: Kevin Sumlin
Actual salary: $5 million
Adjusted salary: $4 million
He’s 36-16 in College Station, but just 16-10 since Johnny Manziel left. With five-star quarterback recruits transferring left and right, drama in the athletic department and an overall regression for the program in the past two seasons, Sumlin is trending the wrong way right now.
VANDERBILT
Coach: Derek Mason
Actual salary: unknown (as a private school, Vanderbilt doesn’t have to disclose the salaries of its employees).
Adjusted salary: $2 million
Mason is 7-17 with just two league wins at Vanderbilt. As we may have expected from his background, he’s built an outstanding defense in Nashville. It won’t matter much unless the offense gets much, much better.
Randy Capps is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers SEC football, South Carolina and Georgia.
