College Football’s Most Overpaid Coaches Based on Results

When the College of Florida made Steve Spurrier the highest-paid coach in faculty soccer historical past—and the sport’s first million-dollar man—in 1996, there was an air of scandal surrounding the information.

A million {dollars}? In faculty sports activities? It feels downright quaint when revisited on this period. Prime-strength coaches at the moment are becoming a member of the seven-figure membership.

Referencing USA Today’s database of coaching salaries, most not too long ago up to date in October 2024, 92 FBS coaches earn at the least $1 million yearly. Definitely, inflation from 30 years in the past is an element, but when solely all professions’ pay scales swelled on the price of teaching salaries…

With that in thoughts, it’s not unfair to guage teaching tenures relative to their sizable financial institution accounts. Utilizing USA Right this moment’s findings, the next quartet stands out for delivering outcomes that fall wanting their wages.

A notable omission is Penn State’s James Franklin. Franklin’s 1-10 all-time record against Ohio State is actually a sore spot among the many Nittany Lions fan base, as is this system’s incapability to interrupt by to a School Soccer Playoff look.

Nevertheless, the Nittany Lions have constantly completed seasons ranked within the high 10. With Franklin’s $8.5 million wage ranked because the Thirteenth-most profitable amongst coaches, Penn State’s outcomes sometimes meet or exceed its coach’s paycheck.

Trent Dilfer, UAB

Beginning with the 77th-highest paid coach within the sport might appear to be an odd alternative. However then, UAB hiring Trent Dilfer was an odd alternative in itself, and his brief tenure has almost immediately unraveled the outstanding work of his predecessor, Invoice Clark.

Clark remodeled the common cellar-dweller program, which had been actually shut down early into his tenure, right into a perennial bowl participant. Dilfer took over with 4 years of highschool teaching expertise at Tennessee-based Lipscomb Academy, and the Blazers instantly started to wrestle.

They went 4-8 final season and are 2-6 by eight video games in 2024, with a median margin of defeat of 25.7 factors per sport. At $1.5 million per yr, Dilfer is paid greater than in-state counterpart Wealthy Rodriguez, who has received 14 video games in lower than two seasons at Jacksonville State.

Dilfer’s UAB crew additionally suffered a humiliating defeat this season by the hands of ULM, coached by Bryant Vincent, a former Clark assistant handed over for the Blazers job. Vincent is paid $900,000 much less per yr than Dilfer.

Billy Napier, Florida

As the primary program ever to pay its head coach $1 million, Florida clearly takes its funding in soccer critically. These in Gainesville accountable for making such selections additionally demand quick and constant ROI. Simply ask Jim McElwain and Dan Mullen, each of whom had been fired inside two years of reaching an SEC Championship Sport.

So, with third-year Gators coach Billy Napier sporting an underwhelming 15-18 document in his tenure and headed for a potential third straight sub-.500 end, it stands to cause that Napier was on the recent seat. His $7.37 million per yr contract, ranked No. 21 in faculty soccer, is comparatively modest in comparison with the remainder of the SEC—and maybe reflective of the huge buyout cash that this system’s impatience has value it.

Mullen’s buyout got here with a $12 million price ticket, which Florida is paying by 2027. McElwain’s buyout totaled $7.5 million, the identical price UF initially balked at paying to Colorado State to be able to rent him away from Fort Collins.

One large cause he’s again for 2025: Napier’s buyout is staggering $26.7 million.

Lincoln Riley, Southern California

Within the roughly 15 years for the reason that finish of the Pete Carroll dynasty at USC, Trojans trustworthy have provided no scarcity of explanations as to why this system has not been capable of recapture its dominance of the 2000s.

NCAA sanctions within the wake of the Reggie Bush scandal—which wouldn’t even violate at the moment’s guidelines—had been overly punitive. The Pac-12 Convention was holding USC again. The funding in teaching salaries wasn’t aggressive with the highest of school soccer.

Nicely, it’s been a decade for the reason that Bush scandal sanctions lapsed. The Trojans at the moment are members of the Huge Ten, and at greater than $10 million per yr, Lincoln Riley is the fourth-highest paid coach within the sport and tops within the Huge Ten.

A promising begin in 2022, with USC going 11-1 within the common season, appeared to justify the hefty contract. Since then, nonetheless, USC has posted a mixed 12-12 document, with a disappointing end to 2022, an 8-5 document in 2023 that felt like a retread of the Clay Helton years, and a 2-5 begin in 2024. The Trojans have misplaced to a few Huge Ten groups with .500 or worse league information (Washington, Michigan, and Maryland).

Mark Stoops, Kentucky

The inclusion of Stoops, who in 2022 grew to become Kentucky’s all-time wins chief, is tenuous.

Profitable with consistency at what’s a firmly established basketball college is rarely simple—simply have a look at the monitor information of Duke, Kansas, UConn, or Arizona soccer applications. Look, too, at Stoops’ Kentucky predecessors, most of whom have seen much more success throughout his tenure.

Bear Bryant and his successor, Blanton Collier, are the one different Wildcats coaches post-World Warfare II to have above-.500 information at UK.

Stoops can also be the ninth-highest paid head coach within the sport, making simply over $9 million a yr. Kentucky has completed ranked within the end-of-season Prime 25 simply twice throughout Stoops’ tenure—the newest time, in 2021, it had its 10 wins vacated.

Measured in opposition to the historical past of Kentucky soccer, Stoops is an plain success. Nevertheless, measured in opposition to his $9 million wage, Stoops is the least achieved among the many sport’s 10 highest-paid coaches.