Nick Saban Reigns as the Highest Paid Coach in College Football

The college football world might think Kirby Smart has taken over as the best coach in the sport, but money says otherwise. According to yearly compensation for all college football coaches, Nick Saban is still the highest-paid head coach in college football.

Get our free mobile app

In August of last year, Coach Saban signed a 7-year deal worth $93.6 million. The contract will bring in $11.4 million yearly to Saban and the deal will end in February of 2030. If we're talking about football seasons, Coach Saban is under contract throughout the 2029 season as Alabama's head football coach.

This is not even the best part of the contract for Saban and Jimmy Sexton who is Coach Saban's, Jimbo Fisher and Lane Kiffins's agent. There is a clause in the contract that states Saban has to be one of the highest-paid coaches.

According to Boardroom, "Basically, it’s there to ensure he remains one of the highest-paid — if not the highest-paid — coaches in all of college football for the full duration. The contract calls for him and the university to meet each February and calculate the average salary of both the three highest-paid SEC head coaches and five highest-paid coaches nationally; if Saban’s total salary is lower than either of those two averages, his pay will be raised to match the higher one".

Not only did the yearly compensation show that Nick Saban still reigns as the most valuable coach, but it also shows just how much southern schools will pay to ensure a winning football program. The only teams that have a coach in the top 10 from the northern side of the United States are Ryan Day with Ohio State and Mel Tucker at Michigan State before all of the allegations.

According to yearly compensation, the South (more so the SEC) has eight of the ten highest-paid coaches in college football. Clemson's Dabo Swinney is a two, Georgia's Kirby Smart is three, LSU's Brian Kelley is four, Jimbo Fisher is five for Texas A&M, Mark Stoops is a six for Kentucky, Josh Heupel is a nine for Tennessee and Kiffin is at 10 for Ole Miss.

With the 12-team playoff and a new era of college football right around the corner, Alabama should be secured with the right man to lead them into this new era.