USA Today has released their annual conversation piece, a database of the top earners among college football coaches in America. The yearly reveal has become something of a jealousy-invoking document to be ritualistically passed around offices everywhere, as people mutter under their breath, “But it’s only college football?”
Yes, the massive salaries of these head coach kingpins have been turning heads for a while now, hitting their highest buzz point when Deadspin published their infographic of each state’s highest paid employee. (Hint: You guess it. Most of them are college football coaches).
Which College Football Coaches Make the Most Money?
To the surprise of few college football fans, the infamous Nick Saban, maestro of the two-time consecutive champions the Alabama Crimson Tide, sits atop the great pyramid of coaches, making a tidy &5,545,852 total in 2013. He’s followed closely by the old man at Texas, Mack Brown, who will have earned just under five and a half million dollars when the year is all wrapped up. [sc:NCAA240banner ]
The SEC has the most earners in the top ten highest paid coaches with four: Saban (Alabama), Bielema (Arkansas), Jones (Tennessee) and Miles (LSU). The conference is followed closely by the Big Ten with three — Meyer at OSU, Hoke at Michigan and Ferentz at Iowa — then the Big 12 with 2, and the top AAC earner sitting at number ten overall (Charlie Strong at Louisville).
When all is said and done, and the Bowl games have been played at the culmination of this college football season, NCAA football coaches will have earned a cool $207,713,893 dollars, not including the handful of bench bosses whose salaries were not reported according to USA Today.
Think about that number — just try and picture all that cash — the next time you’re watching Nick Saban, arms crossed and lips locked in a tight frown, on the sidelines at a Crimson Tide football game. And then think about the fact that the college athletes who play an integral part in their success are still continually getting busted for trying to make a little on the side.
The world of college football is a strange one indeed.
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