How Much Do College Football Coaches Make?
The top class of college football programs in the United States --- which includes storied programs such as Alabama, Notre Dame, Michigan, Texas and Miami --- is comprised of 120 schools in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision. Each program employs a staff that includes a head coach and multiple assistant coaches. In 2009, the latest year numbers are available, all but half of the head coaches in the FBS earned at least $1 million.
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Top Salaries
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In 2009, the highest paid coach in college football was Southern California's Pete Carroll, who earned a base salary of $4,386,652. (Carroll moved to the NFL in 2010 to coach the Seattle Seahawks.) According to data collected by "USA Today," two other head coaches also earned more than $4 million in 2009, nine coaches earned between $3 million and $4 million and 25 coaches brought in between $2 million and $3 million. More than half of all head coaches, 56, claimed earnings of at least $1 million.
Lowest Salaries
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Not all head football coaches bring home multi-million salaries. The lowest paid college coaches earned less than $200,000 in 2009. Charlie Weatherbie of Louisiana-Monroe was the lowest paid of all head coaches, earning $160,000. Steve Roberts of Arkansas State had the lowest base salary of $140,000 but earned another $80,162 in bonuses, according to "USA Today."
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Other Compensation
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College coaches, particularly head coaches, earn money outside the base pay included in the contract. Many coaches have clauses written into their contracts that provide bonuses for accomplishment, such as winning a conference tournament, earning a bowl game bid or for number of wins in a season. Coaches also earn additional money for TV and radio appearances, speaking to groups and for product endorsements.
Assistant Coaches
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According to "USA Today," in 2009 Tennessee had the highest total payroll for assistant coaches at a little more than $3.3 million. The second highest payroll was at Texas, where assistants totaled more than $2.9 million in salaries. Tennessee also employs the highest paid assistant in the FBS at $1.2 million annually. The lowest paid assistant coach earned $24,008 at Western Kentucky.
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