The Top 20 Paid College Football Coaches
USA TODAY collected the salaries in 2019 of over 100 college football coaches from across the country. The top 20 looks at the highest paid, with coach Dabo Swinney at Clemson University in South Carolina holding first place with an astonishing pay of $9.3 million.
By Venus Munoz
Coach Dabo Swinney from Clemson University and the highest paid amongst college football coaches according to USA TODAY, has a school and overall career record of 116–30. In just 2019 he was paid slightly over $1 million in bonuses, following a $500,000 bonus in 2018 and a $1.5 million bonus in 2017.
The next highest paid football coach, Nick Saban at University of Alabama holds a record at school of 141–21 and an overall career record of 232–63–1. His overall pay is that of $8.8 million, receiving bonuses of $875,000 $500,000 and $550,000 in 2019, 2018, and 2019 respectively.
According to neuvoo.com, a website that converts yearly earnings into hourly salary, coach Dabo Swinney makes roughly about $4,769 an hour. His monthly salary is roughly $775,000. Nick Saban follows closely behind with an estimated $4,513 hourly salary and $733,333 monthly salary.
To put things into perspective, the national minimum wage in the United States currently holds at $9.25. Swinney’s home state of South Carolina currently holds a $10 minimum wage, and Saban’s home state of Alabama holds a low $7.25 minimum wage.
United States employees who receive bonuses, typically receive a 2.5 or 7.5 percent of their respective payroll. Although that looks different for each individual, given the national minimum wage, it looks nowhere near the bonus Dabo Swinney or Nick Saban receive yearly.
College football coaches’ pay undoubtedly exceed the charts compared to the common American people salaries; given that the 20th best paid coach, Chris Petersen at Washington University, receives a pay of $4.6 million.