5 SEC Head Coaches Who Are Underpaid
It wasn't too long ago—1995, to be exact—when former Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden became college football's first million-dollar head coach.
Now 72 of the 121 head coaches at FBS public schools break the million-dollar mark annually, according to the USA Today coaching salary database, with others at private schools likely joining them. Every SEC head coach broke the $2 million mark in 2014 other than Vanderbilt's Derek Mason, whose salary wasn't reported.
Which coaches are great investments?
Our picks for the SEC's five most underpaid head coaches based on salary, wins and revenue are in this slideshow.
Tennessee Head Coach Butch Jones
1 of 5
In his third season as the Tennessee head coach, Butch Jones has the Vols back on the SEC map.
In his first season in 2013, he notched a signature win—something his predecessor Derek Dooley never had—over eventual 11-win South Carolina in Neyland Stadium, and followed it up in 2014 with the school's first bowl appearance since 2010.
During that time, Jones has reeled in back-to-back top-10 recruiting classes and transformed the roster from one that's full of holes into one that's filled with youth and potential.
He just received a raise and extension in December that will pay him $3.6 million annually through 2020, which is nice, but still in the bottom half of the SEC overall.
The Vols are littered throughout just about every publication's preseason Top 25, and could make a big jump in the SEC East now that the young roster has received valuable experience. If Tennessee wins the SEC East—or even joins the legitimate conversation—that salary will look like chump change this time next year.
Mississippi State Head Coach Dan Mullen
2 of 5
All Dan Mullen did in 2014 was lead Mississippi State to its third-ever double-digit-win season, the first No. 1 ranking in program history and the first Orange Bowl appearance since January 1941.
For a cool $3 million, he was worth every penny.
Mullen is on the brink of a contract extension, which, according to Michael Bonner of The Jackson Clarion-Ledger, is a matter of "when, not if." As of right now, though, Mullen is a bargain.
He has slowly but surely built the program from perennial SEC West bottom-feeder into a team that, even if it doesn't win, will make the opposition earn it. Just a decade ago, the thought of five straight bowl games would've seemed like something out of the fiction section in Starkville.
Mullen made it the norm from the ground up, and in 2014, put Mississippi State on the national map.
Florida Head Coach Jim McElwain
3 of 5
Florida head coach Jim McElwain just got hired in December, and he's already underpaid.
His total compensation package, according to Scott Carter of GatorZone.com, is $3.5 million annually. Since that deal was announced, Georgia head coach Mark Richt got a raise to $4 million per year, Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema got a raise to $4 million in 2015 and an average of $4.25 million through 2020 and Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze got a bump to $4.3 million per year.
The market is changing in a hurry. At the very least, shouldn't the head coach of the Florida Gators be paid, at the very least, in the middle of the pack in the SEC? This is, after all, the Florida Gators—a team that has won three national titles since 1996 and should be a contender for the SEC East title every year.
There's no doubt that McElwain's deal will be restructured if he starts winning, but at $3.5 million per year, he's a bargain even without coaching a game.
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Missouri Head Coach Gary Pinkel
4 of 5
What do back-to-back SEC East titles do for Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel?
Not enough to get paid more than fellow SEC East coaches Jim McElwain, Mark Richt, Steve Spurrier and Butch Jones, apparently.
Pinkel got a raise last March, but since then, has been passed on the bottom line by his SEC East rivals. Despite that, all Pinkel has done is win. D.J. Khaled would be proud.
Pinkel has posted double-digit-win seasons in five of the last eight years, successfully transformed Missouri from a Big 12 contender into an SEC East power and put Missouri on the map in the nation's toughest football conference.
Not bad.
Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban
5 of 5
Alabama head coach Nick Saban was the highest-paid head coach in the country in 2014, raking in a whopping $7,160,187 as his Crimson Tide won the SEC title and earned a berth in the inaugural College Football Playoff.
Despite that, he's still underpaid.
Alabama reported a $33 million surplus in 2013-14, with the football program driving the bus by operating at a $53.3 million surplus, according to Michael Casagrande of AL.com. It's the 10th straight year that the Alabama athletics department has taken in more than it's spent.
Is it a coincidence that Saban is entering his ninth year as the head coach of the football program? Not at all.
He has built the program back into a national power, and ushered in a new era of profitability in the process.
He's worth every penny, and probably a lot more.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted, all salary information is courtesy of USA Today unless otherwise noted and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports' composite rankings. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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