Alabama football coach Nick Saban, AD Greg Byrne to have new contracts voted on
In an offseason with several new colossal coaching contracts, Alabama football coach Nick Saban appears set to join the group with an updated deal.
The compensation committee for the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees will vote in a meeting at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday for the "consideration of athletic employment contracts at UA" including Saban, Athletics Director Greg Byrne, new gymnastics coach Ashley Johnston and men's basketball assistant Antoine Pettway.
The new deal for Saban comes after Georgia coach Kirby Smart received an extension in July that moved him ahead of Saban as the highest-paid public-school coach in the country. Smart is set to make $10.25 million in 2022 on base salary and supplemental compensation. That will increase over time.
In the updated contract, Saban would make $9.9 million in base salary, talent fee and completion benefit.
The talent fee grows each year, moving the total to $11.5 million in base salary and talent fee in the 2028 contract year.
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Saban's contract stipulates that he and/or his representation meet with Byrne every February to look at marketplace trends. Saban's contract states that if his total guaranteed annual compensation is less than the average of the three highest-paid SEC football coaches or the five highest-paid NCAA coaches, UA would increase his compensation to the higher of the two averages.
"Coach and I talk about a lot of things on a regular basis," Byrne told The Tuscaloosa News in June. "There is language in his contract regarding average compensation of the top coaches in the country. We’re very cognizant of that. We want to make sure coach Saban and Miss Terry are very happy with our level of support. That has been the case in the past, and that will be the case in the future. So we have ongoing conversations to make sure that’s appropriate."
Ohio State's Ryan Day received a bump to $9.5 million annually this offseason, joining Saban, LSU's Brian Kelly, Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher,Michigan State's Mel Tucker and Smart in making at least $9 million. Southern California's Lincoln Riley likely is in this neighborhood, too, but his compensation is not public because USC is a private university.
When The Tuscaloosa News mentioned to Byrne in June that more coaches were closer to Saban's compensation range, Byrne said UA wants to make sure it supports Saban "as he deserves to be supported."
Nick Kelly covers Alabama football and men's basketball for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter: @_NickKelly
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: New contracts likely for Alabama football's Nick Saban, AD Greg Byrne
