Do you have an unquenchable love of the game, but don’t actually want to play the sport, but still use your knowledge on how to play to make money? Well, coaching might just be the perfect career choice for you! Okay, many professional coaches are former players, but you get the joke.
USA Today listed the salaries of the coaches in college football complete with their national ranking. Does this list making coaching seem like the job for you?
Nick Saban
Shutterstock
School: Alabama
Salary: $11,132,000
Ranking: 1st nationally
Nick Saban is one of the most successful college football coaches in history and with six national champions (5 with Alabama and one with LSU,) he’s showing no signs of slowing down and his large paycheck is evidence of that.
Dabo Swinney
Wikimedia Commons
School: Clemson
Salary: $8,504,600
Ranking: 2nd nationally
Dabo Swinney is the head coach for the Clemson Tigers and a national championship winner. He’s been the coach at Clemson since 2008 and while there has compiled an impressive record of 101-30. He’s more than earned his high salary as a result.
Urban Meyer
Jamie Sabau/Getty Images
School: Ohio State
Salary: $7,600,000
Ranking: 3rd nationally
Once playing football at the University of Cincinnati, Meyer was a coach for the Bowling Green Falcons and Florida Gators before taking on the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Jimbo Fisher
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmjJDNjhOD7/
School: Texas A&M
Salary: $7,500,000
Ranking: 3rd nationally
The former Florida State coach and national championship winner recently moved on from FSU and signed a contract to become the next coach of Texas A&M. His massive contract will earn him top dollar, including this year’s salary of $7.5 million.
Jim Harbaugh
School: Michigan
Salary: $7,004,000
Ranking: 4th nationally
This Toledo native is a former quarterback but now makes his living as the head coach for the University of Michigan Wolverines.
Kirby Smart
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkbjG9QFIVU/
School: Georgia
Salary: $7,000,000
Ranking: 5th nationally
Kirby Smart is the head coach for the University of Georgia Bulldogs and has been since 2016. He most recently signed a new seven-year deal that will pay him on average $7 million per year. Nice work if you can get it.
Gus Malzahn
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcR-McfAW31/
School: Auburn
Salary: $6.7 million
Ranking: 6th nationally
Gus Malzahn is the head coach for the Auburn Tigers and has been since 2013. Since taking over he’s put up a win-loss record of 45-22, not terrible but not great either. He reached the National Championship game in 2014, where the Tigers lost to Florida State and most recently reached the SEC Championship game, which they lost to Georgia.
David Shaw
Wikimedia Commons
School: Stanford
Salary: $5,680,441
Ranking: 7th nationally
Shaw is the head coach of Stanford University football and has been since 2011. He took over for Jim Harbaugh when he left to coach the San Francisco 49ers.
Tom Herman
https://www.instagram.com/p/BllrRr-B4xy/
School: Texas
Salary: $5,250,000
Ranking: 8th nationally
The former Ohio State assistant coach and University of Houston head coach took over the Texas Longhorns in 2017, where he signed an impressive contract that paid him over $5 million last season.
Gary Patterson
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfKcI9xHs64/
School: Texas Christian University
Salary: $5,100,000
Ranking: 9th nationally
Patterson has been the leading man for the TCU Bullfrogs since 2000, where he’s amassed a record of 160 wins and 57 losses. He is also 10-6 in bowl game appearances. This record has kept him on board at TCU and will most likely keep him there for a long time.
James Franklin
School: Penn State
Salary: $4,600,000
Ranking: 10th
Like many on this list, this Pennsylvania boy was also a player-turned-coach. I’m noticing a pattern here.
