Curt Cignetti, Kirby Smart, and Lane Kiffin are the three highest-paid college football coaches, each earning at least $13 million.
The college football coaching carousel is always spinning and this off-season is no exception. With so many coaches changing places and others receiving new contracts, the list of highest-paid college football coaches has changed drastically in the last 12 months.
The fastest riser on the list is Curt Cignetti, who is now the highest-paid coach in college football after signing a third extension with Indiana that will pay him $13.2 million a year. Cignetti has turned Indiana into a football powerhouse, winning the school’s first National Championship and making the Playoff in each of his first two years on the job.
Until Cignetti’s new deal, Georgia’s Kirby Smart was the highest-paid coach in the sport. The two-time national champion just finished his 10th season in Athens and earns $13 million annually after signing a 10-year extension in May 2024.
Smart was recently joined by Lane Kiffin, who left Ole Miss in November for a lucrative seven-year deal with LSU that also pays him $13 million. Kiffin posted a 55-19 record with the Rebels and led Ole Miss to the school’s first College Football Playoff berth.
Ryan Day of Ohio State takes fourth at $12.5 million. After winning the 2025 National Championship, Ohio State rewarded him with an extension that lasts until 2031. (Note: these are the highest known salaries for coaches at public universities.)
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney rounds out the top five. Swinney, the only active college football coach besides Smart with multiple national titles (in 2016 and 2018), earns $11.5 million per year under his current contract.
Texas A&M’s Mike Elko and Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz were both beneficiaries of the recent hiring cycle, signing extensions that placed both of them in the top 15. Elko ($11 million) led the Aggies to the Playoff this season after starting 11-0 and Drinkwitz ($10.75 million) boasts a 29-9 record over the last three seasons.
The top 15 also contains arguably the two biggest names in college football: Colorado’s Deion Sanders and UNC’s Bill Belichick. Sanders comes in tied for ninth at $10.8 million annually after signing a $54 million extension last March for his role in reinvigorating the once-moribund program, both in wins and national interest.
Belichick just finished a disappointing first season of a five-year, $50 million contract at UNC. The Tar Heels finished 4-8, missing a bowl game for the first time since 2018.
The Big Ten just edges out the SEC with 10 of the top 25 highest-paid college football coaches, compared to the SEC’s nine. The ACC comes in third with four coaches on the list.
Two names notably absent on the list are Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman and BYU’s Kalani Sitake. Both coaches’ salaries have not been made public, but Freeman is estimated to earn upwards of $10 million, while Sitake is believed to be making around $9 million with his new extension.
Ranking The Top 25 Highest-Paid College Football Coaches
- Updated: March 18, 2026
| Rank | Coach | College | Total Compensation |
| 1 | Curt Cignetti | Indiana | $13.2 million |
| T-2 | Kirby Smart | Georgia | $13 million |
| T-2 | Lane Kiffin | LSU | $13 million |
| 4 | Ryan Day | Ohio State | $12.5 million |
| 5 | Dabo Swinney | Clemson | $11.5 million |
| T-6 | Dan Lanning | Oregon | $11 million |
| T-6 | Lincoln Riley | USC | $11 million |
| T-6 | Mike Elko | Texas A&M | $11 million |
| T-9 | Deion Sanders | Colorado | $10.8 million |
| T-9 | Steve Sarkisian | Texas | $10.8 million |
| T-9 | Kalen DeBoer | Alabama | $10.8 million |
| 12 | Eli Drinkwitz | Missouri | $10.75 million |
| 13 | Bill Belichick | UNC | $10 million |
| 14 | Matt Campbell | Penn State | $9.8 million |
| 15 | Josh Heupel | Tennessee | $9 million |
| 16 | Matt Rhule | Nebraska | $8.5 million |
| 17 | James Franklin | Virginia Tech | $8.35 million |
| 18 | Kyle Whittingham | Michigan | $8.2 million |
| 19 | Shane Beamer | South Carolina | $8.15 million |
| 20 | Mario Cristobal | Miami | $8 million |
| 21 | Luke Fickell | Wisconsin | $7.8 million |
| 22 | Jedd Fisch | Washington | $7.75 million |
| 23 | Brett Bielema | Illinois | $7.7 million |
| 24 | Brett Venables | Oklahoma | $7.55 million |
| 25 | Kenny Dillingham | Arizona State | $7.5 million |
Methodology
This list was compiled by Front Office Sports using data from USA Today, ESPN and CBS Sports.
