College Football Head Coach Salaries: Top 25 highest paid coaches in 2025 revealed

There is more that is expected from college football head coaches than ever before. Along with that, being a head coach also comes with better compensation than ever before. With that, USA Today has shared the Top 25 highest-paid coaches for the 2025 season.

The salaries shown for each head coach are based on the total pay a coach received. It’s not the only compensation coaches receive, though, as bonuses and potential bonuses are not necessarily available there. It’s also notable that USA Today wasn’t able to find data on every coach in the sport. In fact, there are 14 coaches who no data was available for.

All of that is worth taking into consideration. So, with that in mind, here are the Top 25 coaches by salary, according to USA Today.

1. Kirby Smart, Georgia

Pay: $13,282,580
Kirby Smart left Alabama to become the head coach at his alma mater in 2016. Almost immediately, he had the Bulldogs competitive in the SEC. By his second season, they won the SEC and played for a national championship. Since then, they’ve won two national championships and he’s put up a 109-20 record overall.

There are also $1,775,000 in bonuses available to Smart in his contract. That goes along with the largest buyout in the entire sport. If Georgia did want to make a change for some reason, that buyout currently sits at $105,107,583.

2. Ryan Day, Ohio State

Pay: $12,575,000
Coming off a national championship, it’s no surprise to see that Ryan Day is one of the highest-paid coaches in all of college football. Day became the head coach at Ohio State in 2019, though he had briefly been the team’s acting head coach in 2018 as well. In that time, he has a 75-10 record.

As is pretty standard, Day does have some bonuses coming his way. That’s up to $1,550,000. He also has a massive buyout, worth $70,916,667 if the Buckeyes were to want to move on from him right now.

3. Lincoln Riley, USC

Pay: $11,537,560*
The USC Trojans poached Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma, going into the 2022 season. That wasn’t easy to do, though, and at the time it appeared to be an expensive move. It’s also debatable how well that move has worked. He’s won fewer and fewer games in each of his three full seasons in Los Angeles and holds just a 30-15 record.

USC is a private school, so finding specific figures about his salary is a challenge. It’s also very difficult to find bonus money or the cost of his buyout. So, USA Today wasn’t able to provide those figures, but given the company he’s keeping in regards to salary, it’s safe to assume both are high.

4. Dabo Swinney, Clemson

Pay: $11,447,025*
There’s no way around the fact that Dabo Swinney is a legend in coaching. He’s been at Clemson as an assistant coach since 2003 and as the head coach since 2008. Since then, all he’s done is go 182-50 and win two national championships.

In the case of Swinney, he can receive bonuses of up to $1,500,000 annually. This also comes at a time when there has been increased scrutiny on the Clemson program, with the Tigers underperforming in the first half of the 2025 season. Still, his buyout sits at $60,000,000.

5. Steve Sarkisian, Texas

Pay: $10,800,000
The Texas Longhorns brought in 2021 and he was tasked with rebuilding the Longhorns. It seems like he more than succeeded. Sarkisian has gone 41-19 there. More importantly, he’s taken Texas to the College Football Playoff in back-to-back seasons.

Everything is bigger in Texas. So, maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise that Sarkisian can receive bonuses of up to $1,850,000. As is often the case, no change in his job is expected anytime soon. However, if there were to be one in Austin, it’s a $60,307,500 buyout.

6. Dan Lanning, Oregon

Pay: $10,400,000
When Oregon hired Dan Lanning, he was an up-and-coming assistant. That was in 2022. Now, he’s considered one of the elite coaches in the entire sport. Oregon is 40-6 under Lanning, won the Big Ten in its first season in the conference, and is a consistent national championship threat.

The goal now is to take the next step and truly compete for a national championship at Oregon. Lanning has financial incentives too, including bonuses of up to $1,675,000. There’s a lot of faith in Lanning too, as his buyout currently sits at $56,733,333.

7. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama

Pay: $10,250,000
Alabama brought in Kalen DeBoer, tasking him with finding a way to replace legendary coach Nick Saban. It’s his second season there now, and it hasn’t always been easy. At 13-5, the Crimson Tide have found some success. That’s not bad, but national championships are still the expectation.

This season, DeBoer can earn up to $1,175,000 in bonuses. The hot seat talk around DeBoer has died down, but after Week 1, there had been real concerns about his future. He’s righted that ship, but if things were to turn around again, his buyout is massive at $60,843,750.

8. Brian Kelly, LSU

Pay: $10,175,000*
LSU made a massive splash when the Tigers made Brian Kelly its next head coach. That was back in 2022, and it took poaching him from Notre Dame. Certainly, the salary helped, but at the time, Kelly insisted that it was about resources to win a championship. That hasn’t happened yet, but Kelly does have a 33-12 record.

There are always massive expectations on the head coach at LSU. He’s being incentivized by up to $1,325,000 in bonuses. There’s also a buyout of $53,293,333 if the program were to make a change at head coach that needs to be paid out.

9. Bill Belichick, North Carolina

Pay: $10,100,000
Perhaps the most interesting coach in the Top 10 of these rankings is Belichick. He’s arguably the greatest NFL coach ever, and getting him to North Carolina was bold. It also hasn’t worked so far in his first season there. The Tar Heels are just 2-3 and have been blown out by all three Power Four teams they’ve played.

Despite this only being his first season in college, Belichick’s track record helped him secure up to $3,350,000 in bonuses. Notably, he’s also the coach with by far the lowest buyout in the Top 10 of coaching salaries, according to USA Today. That number sits at $20,833,333.

10. Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss

Pay: $9,000,000*
At one point, Lane Kiffin was a coach who had been fired by USC and the Oakland Raiders. It forced him to reset his career. That ended up being FAU before he made the jump to Ole Miss. There, he’s been able to elevate the Ole Miss program, going 49-18 there since 2020.

The Rebels are already having an excellent season. So, Kiffin will hope to cash in on at least some of his $2,600,000 in potential bonuses. Notably, among the coaches who make $9 million annually, he had the most in bonuses paid out a season ago, getting him into the Top 10 here. That goes along with a $36,600,000 buyout.

11. Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri – $9,000,000
12. Josh Heupel, Tennessee – $9,000,000
13. Mark Stoops, Kentucky – $9,000,000
14. Deion Sanders, Colorado – $8,975,000*
15. Matt Rhule, Nebraska – $8,500,000*
16. James Franklin, Penn State – $8,500,000*
17. Mario Cristobal, Miami – $8,302,883
18. Curt Cignetti, Indiana – $8,300,000*
19. Bret Bielema, Illinois – $8,200,000*
20. Shane Beamer, South Carolina – $8,150,000
21. Luke Fickell, Wisconsin – $7,825,000*
22. Jedd Fisch, Washington – $7,575,024
23. Brent Venables, Oklahoma – $7,552,750
24. Billy Napier, Florida – $7,470,000
25. Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State – $7,442,000*