Skip to main content

Top 20 highest paid North Carolina high school football coaches

Lawrence Andrew Fernandezby: Lawrence Fernandez05/30/25lawandfern
Mike Wilbanks - North Carolina high school football
Shelby football coach Mike Wilbanks ahead of his team's fall 2021 2A state football championship game featuring Shelby and Wallace-Rose Hill at NC State's Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh. (© Joe Hughes / USA TODAY NETWORK)

The Charlotte Observer published the list of the highest-paid North Carolina high school football coaches based on available records. However, these numbers trail the salaries of their counterparts.

Only four North Carolina coaches have six-figure annual salaries. However, only one of them, Richmond Senior’s Brad Denson, earns their keep as a football coach without any additional job titles.

Conversely, Mike Wilbanks juggles several hats. In addition to being Shelby High School’s head coach, he’s also the school’s athletic director, who spearheads their sports program. Meanwhile, George Small serves as football coach and director of football operations for Hoke County High.

Finally, Travis Gaster is more than just a North Carolina high school football coach. He’s the athletic director for both Princeton High and Princeton Middle Schools. Gaster is also a groundskeeper, a Physical Education teacher, a first responder, and the coordinator of Princeton High’s distance learning program.

Here are the top 20 highest-paid high school football coaches in North Carolina, based on the article by The Charlotte Observer’s Langston Wertz Jr., Shane Connuck, and Steve Lyttle.

1. George Small – Hoke County High School – $114,298

2. Travis Gaster – Princeton High School – $108,053

3. Brad Denson – Richmond Senior High School – $106,274

4. Mike Wilbanks – Shelby High School – $100,063

5. Richard Bailey – Scotland High School – $97,509

6. Cory Lea – Riverside High School – $93,415

7. Brian Hampton – Ashe County High School – $91,670

8. Jim Ryan – R-S Central High School – $91,662

9. Philip Russ – East Rutherford High School – $91,662

10. Strait Herron – Kings Mountain High School – $91,600

11. Brandon Laws – A.C. Reynolds High School – $91,341

12. Ken Lathan – Carrboro High School – $91,253

13. Chris Metzger – Montgomery Central High School – $90,000

14. Josh Brooks – Franklin High School – $89,440

15. James Phillips – Andrews High School – $89,430

16. Russell Dove – South Columbus High School – $89,421

17. Chris Codgill – Chase High School – $89,056

18. Jonathan Hines – North Buncombe High School – $87,308

19. Battle Holley – East Duplin High School – $87,023

20. Chad McClure – Hayesville High School – $85,782

You may view the full list of North Carolina high school football coaches’ salaries based on publicly available records here.