USA Today’s annual database of college football coaching salaries went live Wednesday.
Top-tier college football coaches are making twice as much as they did in 2006, when USA TODAY Sports ran its first coaches’ salary survey. Then, coaches at the NCAA’s 119 Football Bowl Subdivision schools were making an average of more than $950,000. Today, at those same 119 schools (of the 128 current), the average salary is about $1.95 million. Even when adjusted for inflation, salaries have nearly doubled.
Nick Saban is college football’s richest coach with an annual salary of $7,160,187. Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio is second with $5,636,145.
Here’s a look at the top ten, courtesy USA Today:
1. Nick Saban, Alabama, $7,160,187
2. Mark Dantonio, Michigan State, $5,636,145
3. Bob Stoops, Oklahoma, $5,058,333
4. Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M, $5,006,000
5. Charlie Strong, Texas, $5,000,270
6. Urban Meyer, Ohio State, $4,536,640
7. Les Miles, LSU, $4,369,582
8. James Franklin, Penn State, $4,300,000
9. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa, $4,075,000
10. Steve Spurrier, South Carolina, $4,016,900
Here are salaries for all the head football coaches in the Big Ten and the region:
2. Mark Dantonio, Michigan State, $5,636,145
6. Urban Meyer, Ohio State, $4,536,640
8. James Franklin, Penn State, $4,300,000
9. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa, $4,075,000
24. Bo Pelini, Nebraska, $3,077,646
30. Brady Hoke, Michigan, $2,856,000
39. Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern, $2,480,967
41. Gary Andersen, Wisconsin, $2,285,000
45. Jerry Kill, Minnesota, $2,100,000
46. Darrell Hazell, Purdue, $2,090,000
47. Randy Edsall, Maryland, $2,033,880
52. Tim Beckman, Illinois, $1,950,250
64. Brian Kelly, Notre Dame, $1,457,284
66. Kevin Wilson, Indiana, $1,301,644
73. Kyle Flood, Rutgers, $987,000
111. Rod Carey, Northern Illinois, $401,500
