Advertisement

SEC football coach 2023 salary rankings: Nick Saban, Kirby Smart lead way in conference

Kevin Skiver, USA TODAY NETWORK
·5 min read

As one of the most prestigious conferences in the country, it's no surprise the top-paid coaches in college football are littered with SEC names.

Some of their salaries are based on tenure, some on recent success, and some on both. As as spoiler, Alabama's Nick Saban is making the most money in the country among coaches in 2023, with the legend sitting at $11.407 million for the Crimson Tide in 2023.

Saban has enjoyed a run of success in Tuscaloosa few college programs ever see, with Alabama winning six national titles since he took the program over in 2007. Saban, however, is not alone atop the rankings as far as SEC coaches go: Georgia's Kirby Smart, who is laying the groundwork for a national superpower with back-to-back national championships heading into this year, is third in the country with a salary of $10.706 million. Clemson's Dabo Swinney is at second.

Below Saban and Smart are LSU's Brian Kelly and Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher, at $9.975 million and $9.15 million, respectively. Both of these coaches have found themselves as the focal point of buyout talk recently, with both programs enduring some struggles in 2023 thus far.

Nine of the top 20 coaches in the country are from the SEC, with Brent Venables at incoming Oklahoma making it an even 10. The lowest-paid coach in the conference is first-year Mississippi State coach Zach Arnett, who is making a clean $3 million this year.

REQUIRED READING: College Football Head Coach Salaries

Who is the highest-paid coach in the SEC?

It should come as no surprise Saban is the highest-paid coach in the SEC, with a salary of $11.407 million in 2023.

Saban is currently on a contract that was inked in August 2022 that will run through the 2029 season. It was a direct retort to Smart's contract, and it kept Saban as the highest-paid coach in college football. In total, the extension was an eight-year deal worth $93.6 million. He is 198-28 with a bowl record of 16-6 in 17 years with Alabama football.

College football coach salary rankings in SEC

While Saban and Smart hold the top spots, there isn't a coach in the SEC hurting for money. All but two of the coaches in the conference clear $5 million this season, with only Clark Lea of Vanderbilt and Arnette at Mississippi State having lower salaries in 2023.

  • 1. Nick Saban, Alabama (No. 1 overall): $11.407 million

  • 2. Kirby Smart, Georgia (No. 3 overall): $10.706 million

  • 3. Brian Kelly, LSU (No. 6 overall): $9.975 million

  • 4. Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M (No. 7 overall): $9.15 million

  • 5. Mark Stoops, Kentucky (No. 8 overall): $9.014 million

  • 6. Josh Heupel, Tennessee (No. 9 overall): $9 million

  • 7. Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss (No. 10 overall): $9 million

  • 8. Billy Napier, Florida (No. 16 overall): $7.27 million

  • 9. Hugh Freeze, Auburn (No. 20 overall): $6.5 million

  • 10. Sam Pittman, Arkansas (No. 22 overall): $6.358 million

  • 11. Shane Beamer, South Carolina (No. 24 overall): $6.125 million

  • 12. Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri (No. 25 overall): $6 million

  • 13. Clark Lea, Vanderbilt (No. 56 overall): $3.052 million

  • 14. Zach Arnett, Mississippi State No. (58 overall): $3 million

The conference tends to cluster, based on the overall rankings, and the tiers are relatively clear based on salary. Alabama and Georgia stand alone atop the West and East in their final seasons, respectively, whereas the second tier has several high-profile names as those programs look to knock the top dogs down.

Where do Texas, Oklahoma rank in highest SEC salaries?

It would be unreasonable to talk about the SEC without bringing up Texas and Oklahoma, the newcomers arriving in 2024.

Lincoln Riley's replacement in Norman Brent Venables is Swinney's former defensive coordinator, and the Sooners paid a hefty sum to land him. Venables sits at No. 17 with a $7.1 million salary in 2023. For Texas, yet another former Saban assistant Steve Sarkisian is at No. 30, at $5.6 million. A raise may well be in his future if Texas continues its success this season.

Here's how the rankings shake out with the incomers included.

  • 1. Nick Saban, Alabama (No. 1 overall): $11.407 million

  • 2. Kirby Smart, Georgia (No. overall): $10.706 million

  • 3. Brian Kelly, LSU (No. 6 overall): $9.975 million

  • 4. Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M (No. 7 overall): $9.15 million

  • 5. Mark Stoops, Kentucky (No. 8 overall): $9.014 million

  • 6. Josh Heupel, Tennessee (No. 9 overall): $9 million

  • 7. Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss (No. 10 overall): $9 million

  • 8. Billy Napier, Florida (1No. 6 overall): $7.27 million

  • 9. Brent Venables, Oklahoma (No. 17 overall): $7.1 million

  • 10. Hugh Freeze, Auburn (No. 20 overall): $6.5 million

  • 11. Sam Pittman, Arkansas (No. 22 overall): $6.358 million

  • 12. Shane Beamer, South Carolina (No. 24 overall): $6.125 million

  • 13. Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri (No. 25 overall): $6 million

  • 14. Steve Sarkisian, Texas (No. 30 overall): $5.6 million

  • 15. Clark Lea, Vanderbilt (No. 56 overall): $3.052 million

  • 16. Zach Arnett, Mississippi State (No. 58 overall): $3 million

Texas is Sarkisian's second head coaching job, and it came after a disappointing tenure at USC, hence his relatively low salary for such a high-profile program.

Prestige doesn't always equal success; that much is true in college football. But it does help land top coaching talent. That is reflected in the salaries across the SEC, one of the most demanding conferences to coach in in the sport.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: SEC football coach 2023 salary rankings: Nick Saban, Kirby Smart lead