Nick Saban the highest-paid coach in 2023. See where rest of college football coaches rank
Once again, Alabama football coach Nick Saban leads the pack among public-school college football coaches in annual compensation.
Even as other coaches increase their earnings, Saban remains at the top, according to the USA TODAY Sports college football head coach salaries database.
Alabama will pay Saban $11.41 million. Behind him are Clemson's Dabo Swinney ($10.88 million), Georgia's Kirby Smart ($10.71 million), Ohio State's Ryan Day ($10.27 million) and LSU's Brian Kelly ($9.98 million). Mel Tucker would have been No. 5 on this list, but Michigan State just fired him for cause.
As for buyouts, Smart has the biggest as of Dec. 1, 2023 of $92.63 million. Jimbo Fisher is next at $77.56 million followed by Kelly ($70.02 million), Penn State's James Franklin ($64.67 million) and Swinney ($64 million). Saban has the tenth-largest remaining buyout of public-school coaches at $44.8 million.
The database includes some but not all private school coaches. The information that is included for some private schools, such as Vanderbilt's Clark Lea, is known through recently available federal tax records. Coaches such as USC's Lincoln Riley and Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman are not included in the database.
SEC football coaches salaries for 2023
Nick Saban (Alabama): $11.41 million
Kirby Smart (Georgia): $10.71 million
Brian Kelly (LSU): $9.98 million
Jimbo Fisher (Texas A&M): $9.15 million
Mark Stoops (Kentucky): $9.01 million
Josh Heupel (Tennessee): $9 million
Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss): $9 million
Billy Napier (Florida): $7.27 million
Hugh Freeze (Auburn): $6.5 million
Sam Pittman (Arkansas): $6.36 million
Shane Beamer (South Carolina): $6.13 million
Eliah Drinkwitz (Missouri): $6 million
Clark Lea (Vanderbilt): $3.05 million
Zach Arnett (Mississippi State): $3 million
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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 @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Nick Saban: Where his pay ranks with rest of college football coaches
