Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is currently the highest-paid college football coach. A record-setting raise prior to the start of the 2024 season upped his salary to approximately $13 million.
That number doesn’t include performance bonuses.
It was not so long ago that top college football coaches made $2 or $3 million. But the era of big money has come for college athletics, and it’s made dozens of college football coaches very rich, indeed.
Below are the top salaries for college football coaches, according to information researched and released by USA Today.
Highest Paid College Football Coaches 2024
| Rank | Coach | School | Salary |
| 1 | Kirby Smart | Georgia | $13 million |
| 2 | Dabo Swinney | Clemson | $11 million |
| 3 | Steve Sarkisian | Texas | $10.6 Million |
| 4 | Lincoln Riley | USC | $10(ish) Million |
| T-5 | Kalen DeBoer | Alabama | $10 Million |
| T-5 | Mike Norvell | Florida State | $10 Million |
| 7 | Brian Kelly | LSU | $9.96 Million |
| 8 | Ryan Day | Ohio State | $9.9 Million |
| T-9 | Mark Stoops | Kentucky | $9 Million |
| T-9 | Lane Kiffin | Ole Miss | $9 Million |
| T-9 | Eli Drinkwitz | Missouri | $9 Million |
| T-9 | Josh Heupel | Tennessee | $9 Million |
| 13 | James Franklin | Penn State | $8.5 Million |
| 14 | Dan Lanning | Oregon | $8.2 Million |
| 15 | Brent Venables | Oklahoma | $8.15 Million |
| 16 | Mario Cristobal | Miami (FL) | $7.8 Million |
| 17 | Mike Gundy | Oklahoma State | $7.75 Million |
| 18 | Luke Fickell | Wisconsin | $7.73 Million |
| 19 | Jedd Fisch | Washington | $7.7 Million |
| 20 | Lance Leipold | Kansas | $7.5 Million |
| 21 | Jonathan Smith | Michigan State | $7.3 Million |
| 22 | Billy Napier | Florida | $7.1 Million |
| T-23 | Mike Elko | Texas A&M | $7 Million |
| T-23 | Kirk Firentz | Iowa | $7 Million |
| T-25 | Hugh Freeze | Auburn | $6.7 Million |
| T-25 | PJ Fleck | Minnesota | $6.7 Million |
| T-25 | Pat Narduzzi | Pittsburgh | $6.7 Million |
| 28 | Marcus Freeman | Notre Dame | $6.69 Million |
| 29 | Bret Bielema | Illinois | $6.65 Million |
| 30 | Kyle Whittingham | Utah | $6.53 Million |
Lincoln Riley Salary
Lincoln Riley is thought to make about $10 million annually as the head coach of USC.
Unlike many of the other top-paid college football coaches, who work for public universities, Riley works at a private school. That means USC is not required to comply with public disclosure laws that often reveal NCAA coaching salaries.
Unless USC or Riley himself elects to volunteer the details of his salary, college football fans are unlikely to ever know the exact figure he is paid.
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