Remaining CFP Coaches Vie for National Title—and Big Pay Raises

As the College Football Playoff semifinals play out—Notre Dame beat Penn State 27-24 on Thursday night to advance to the title game—each of the remaining coaches is not only fighting for his first national championship but also potentially a big salary bump.

Friday night’s Cotton Bowl features the two highest-paid coaches of this year’s final four, with the Longhorns’ Steve Sarkisian and the Buckeyes’ Ryan Day each earning more than $10 million this season. Sarkisian received a raise and contract extension in February 2024, while Day’s most recent deal was signed in 2022.

While this year’s CFP runs have already resulted in six-figure bonuses for some coaches, a national championship victory could extend the winning coach’s salary even higher.

In 2022, Georgia gave head coach Kirby Smart a raise of more than $3 million annually, from roughly $7 million to $10.25 million, after his first national championship in 2021. Smart’s pay was bumped again in 2024, and he is now the highest-paid coach in college football, making more than $13 million each year.

In 2020, LSU boosted former head coach Ed Orgeron’s salary from $4 million to $6 million after the Tigers won the 2019 national title. However, not even two full seasons later, LSU paid Orgeron a $17 million buyout, firing the coach midway through the 2021 campaign. After Dabo Swinney won his first national championship at Clemson in 2016, he saw his annual salary jump by more than a million to $6.5 million. He now makes more than $11 million per year.

Notre Dame announced a contract extension for head coach Marcus Freeman in December. Since the university is private, his salary is not public information like others. However, Irish Illustrated reported his pay was being bumped from roughly $7 million to more than $9 million.

In 2021, Penn State signed James Franklin to a 10-year extension that pays him $8.5 million annually.