How Much Did Each Power Conference Team Pay Its Head Coach Per Win in 2014?

The USA Today salary database tells us how much money each FBS head coach earned last season (with the exception of seven coaches, whose schools kept their contracts private).

What it doesn't tell us? Return on investment.

Fortunately, computing how much each head coach earned per win last year is simple: salary divided by number of victories. Using that approach, we found which coaches gave their schools the best and worst values per dollar in 2014.

Here are the findings from each power conference:

                       ACC

Coach	School	2014 Salary	2014 Wins	Salary / Win
1. David Cutcliffe	Duke	$1,840,341	9	$204,482
2.Dave Doeren	NC State	$1,800,000	8	$225,000
3. Paul Johnson	Georgia Tech	$2,590,500	11	$235,273
4. Paul Chryst	Pittsburgh	$1,578,757	6	$263,126
5. Jimbo Fisher	Florida State	$3,591,667	13	$276,282
6. Larry Fedora	North Carolina	$1,830,000	6	$305,000
7. Dabo Swinney	Clemson	$3,175,100	10	$315,000
8. Bobby Petrino	Louisville	$3,000,000	9	$333,333
9. Frank Beamer	Virginia Tech	$2,660,913	7	$345,845
10. Al Golden	Miami	$2,250,943	6	$375,157
11. Mike London	Virginia	$2,303,599	5	$459,683
Steve Addazio	Boston College	—	7	—
Dave Clawson	Wake Forest	—	3	—
Scott Shafer	Syracuse	—	3	—

Key Takeaways

1. See why Larry Fedora is on the hot seat? In a vacuum, he's a fair-enough bargain, but his two primary in-state rivals, David Cutcliffe and Dave Doeren, are the best values in the conference. This is not the first time Cutcliffe and Doeren have teamed up against Fedora.

2. Based on the available data, the ACC has the fewest bad-value contracts in the country. Of course, the lack of Dave Clawson's and Scott Shafer's contract info plays a role in that, as Wake Forest and Syracuse posted the fewest wins in the conference last season. Still, it's worth noting that the ACC, as far as our data can tell, mines great value from its head coaches.

                       Big 12

Coach	School	2014 Salary	2014 Wins	Salary / Win
1. Art Briles	Baylor	$3,135,146	11	$285,013
2. Bill Snyder	Kansas State	$2,900,000	9	$322,222
3. Gary Patterson	Texas Christian	$4,008,150	12	$334,013
4. Dana Holgorsen	West Virginia	$3,080,000	7	$440,000
5. Mike Gundy	Oklahoma State	$3,500,000	7	$500,000
6. Bob Stoops	Oklahoma	$5,058,333	8	$632,292
7. Kliff Kingsbury	Texas Tech	$2,605,300	4	$651,250
8. Charlie Strong	Texas	$5,000,270	6	$833,333
9. Paul Rhoads	Iowa State	$1,808,025	2	$900,000
10. Charlie Weis*	Kansas	$2,500,000	2	$1,200,000

*fired after starting the year 2-2

Key Takeaways

1. The Big 12 flaunts the most bad-value contracts in the country, although part of that results from giving out so many big contracts in general. Still, Charlie Weis, Paul Rhoads and Charlie Strong all finished in the bottom five among power-conference head coaches, earning more than $800,000 per win in 2014.

2. The top of the league fails to compensate for the lack of value at the bottom. Kansas State's Bill Snyder, who finished No. 2 in the Big 12 with $322,222 per win, would have finished No. 8 in the ACC, No. 6 in the Big Ten, No. 7 in the Pac-12 and No. 4 in the SEC.

                       Big Ten

Coach	School	2014 Salary	2014 Wins	Salary / Win
1.Kyle Flood	Rutgers	$987,000	8	$121,875
2. Gary Andersen	Wisconsin	$2,285,000	11	$200,000
3. Jerry Kill	Minnesota	$2,100,000	8	$262,500
4. Randy Edsall	Maryland	$2,033,880	7	$290,526
5. Urban Meyer	Ohio State	$4,536,640	14	$320,474
6. Tim Beckman	Illinois	$1,950,250	6	$325,000
7. Kevin Wilson	Indiana	$1,301,644	4	$325,411
8. Bo Pelini	Nebraska	$3,077,646	9	$341,961
9. Pat Fitzgerald	Northwestern	$2,480,967	5	$496,193
10. Mark Dantonio	Michigan State	$5,636,145	11	$510,168
11. Brady Hoke	Michigan	$2,856,000	5	$570,800
12. Kirk Ferentz	Iowa	$4,075,000	7	$582,143
13. James Franklin	Penn State	$4,300,000	7	$614,286
14. Darrell Hazell	Purdue	$2,090,000	3	$696,667

Key Takeaways

1. I see you, Kyle Flood. And apparently, so does Rutgers. Flood signed an extension last September that will bump him to $1.25 million next season, making him New Jersey's highest-paid state employee, per Keith Sargeant of NJ.com. Even then, however, Flood's eight wins would have made him the No. 2 value among power-five head coaches. As it stands, he was the runaway No. 1.

2. Former Wisconsin head coach Gary Andersen was one of the best values, in addition to one of the best overall coaches, in high-major college football last season. New head coach Paul Chryst has big shoes to fill after Andersen left for Oregon State. The Badgers will pay Chryst an average of $2.5 million per season, according to Lance Allen of TMJ4 in Milwaukee. Andersen won 19 games in two seasons on a smaller contract, while Chryst went 13-12 at Pittsburgh.

                       Pac-12

Coach	School	2014 Salary	2014 Wins	Salary / Win
1. Mark Helfrich	Oregon	$2,000,000	13	$153,846
2. Kyle Whittingham	Utah	$2,200,000	9	$244,444
3. David Shaw	Stanford	$2,012,666	8	$251,583
4. Todd Graham	Arizona State	$2,702,960	10	$270,000
5. Rich Rodriguez	Arizona	$3,298,500	10	$289,850
6. Mike Riley	Oregon State	$1,510,008	5	$302,002
7. Jim Mora	UCLA	$3,250,000	10	$325,000
8. Sonny Dykes	California	$1,808,000	5	$360,000
9. Chris Petersen	Washington	$3,681,720	8	$460,215
10. Mike Leach	Washington State	$2,750,000	3	$916,667
11. Mike MacIntyre	Colorado	$2,010,150	2	$1,004,250
Steve Sarkisian	USC	—	9	—

Key Takeaways

1. Eight Pac-12 head coaches earned more money last year than Mark Helfrich—and that's omitting Steve Sarkisian, whose salary USC did not disclose, but which one can assume exceeded $2 million. Despite that, Helfrich led Oregon to a Pac-12 title, a victory over Florida State in the Rose Bowl and a trip to the national championship game. In February, the Ducks rewarded their head coach with a lucrative and well-earned contract extension, which will pay an average of $3.5 million over five seasons, starting with $3.15 million in 2015.

"The success of our student -athletes on the field and in the classroom will continue with Mark 's leadership," said Director of Athletics Rob Mullens, per the official news release, "and we are thrilled that he will stay at home in Oregon for a long time to come."

2. Not a good look for Mike Leach, whose $2.75 million salary exceeds that of Arizona State head coach Todd Graham. Leach earned his money two seasons ago, when he led Washington State to a surprising bowl game, but the Cougars regressed badly in 2014. Great as Leach can be, another down season might land him on the hot seat.

                       SEC

Coach	School	2014 Salary	2014 Wins	Salary / Win
1. Dan Mullen	Mississippi State	$3,000,000	10	$300,000
2. Gary Pinkel	Missouri	$3,400,000	11	$309,091
3. Mark Richt	Georgia	$3,314,000	10	$320,000
4. Hugh Freeze	Mississippi	$3,018,000	9	$333,333
5. Butch Jones	Tennessee	$2,960,000	7	$422,857
6. Will Muschamp*	Florida	$2,731,000	6	$455,167
7. Bret Bielema	Arkansas	$3,214,000	7	$457,143
8. Gus Malzahn	Auburn	$3,854,500	8	$481,250
9. Les Miles	LSU	$4,369,582	8	$537,500
10. Mark Stoops	Kentucky	$2,701,600	5	$540,000
11. Steve Spurrier	South Carolina	$4,016,900	7	$571,429
12. Nick Saban	Alabama	$7,160,187	12	$596,682
13. Kevin Sumlin	Texas A&M	$5,006,000	8	$625,000
Derek Mason	Vanderbilt	—	3	—

*did not coach Florida's bowl game

1. Let's start with the obvious: No SEC coach earned less than $300,000 per win. Only four earned less than $420,000. However, while indicting at first glance, most of that concerns the size of SEC head coaching contracts in general. In this regard, one could argue SEC wins are worth more than other conference wins, since they come, by and large, against coaches with bigger salaries. It all depends on how you want to look at it. And that, of course, depends on how you feel about SEC football.

2. Alabama head coach Nick Saban will always rank toward the bottom of this list. His $7.16 million salary is the highest in college football, so even if Alabama went 15-0, his stipend per win, $477,346, would rank below the 50th percentile for power-conference coaches. Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin has a similar, albeit less extreme, predicament.

                       Full FBS Value Chart

	School	2014 Salary	2014 Wins	Salary / Win
1. Scott Satterfield	Appalachian State	$225,000	7	$32,143
2. Rod Carey	Northern Illinois	$401,500	11	$36,364
3. Willie Fritz	Georgia Southern	$400,000	9	$44,444
4. Doc Holliday	Marshall	$609,820	13	$46,698
5. P.J. Fleck	Western Michigan	$392,500	8	$49,063
6. Dino Babers	Bowling Green	$405,000	8	$50,625
7. Dan Enos	Central Michigan	$360,000	7	$51,429
8. Matt Campbell	Toledo	$482,537	9	$52,278
9. Skip Holtz	Louisiana Tech	$510,000	9	$55,556
10. Dennis Franchione	Texas State	$401,200	7	$57,143
11. Matt Wells	Utah State	$576,434	10	$57,500
12. Joey Jones	South Alabama	$471,000	6	$72,500
13. Jeff Brohm	Western Kentucky	$600,000	8	$75,000
14. Bobby Wilder	Old Dominion	$486,010	6	$79,167
15. Terry Bowden	Akron	$406,000	5	$81,200
16. Brian Polian	Nevada	$575,000	7	$82,143
17. Bill Clark	UAB	$500,000	6	$83,333
18. Bryan Harsin	Boise State	$1,000,004	12	$83,334
19. Sean Kugler	Texas-El Paso	$508,364	6	$83,977
20. Troy Calhoun	Air Force	$892,750	10	$86,625
21. Todd Berry	UL-Monroe	$358,250	4	$89,250
22. Frank Solich	Ohio	$554,500	6	$92,167
23. David Bailiff	Rice	$780,243	8	$97,530
24. Larry Coker	UT-San Antonio	$402,150	4	$100,000
25. Pete Lembo	Ball State	$503,500	5	$100,000
26. Blake Anderson	Arkansas State	$700,000	7	$100,000
27. Justin Fuente	Memphis	$1,006,779	10	$100,678
28. Mark Hudspeth	UL-Lafayette	$1,003,156	9	$111,111
29. Rocky Long	San Diego State	$802,000	7	$114,286
30. Kyle Flood	Rutgers	$987,000	8	$121,875
31. Jeff Quinn*	Buffalo	$380,210	3	$126,737
32. Tony Levine	Houston	$1,025,300	8	$128,125
33. Rick Stockstill	Middle Tenn. State	$803,129	6	$133,584
34. Ron Turner	FIU	$551,000	4	$137,500
35. Norm Chow	Hawaii	$620,500	4	$137,500
36. Mark Whipple	Massachusetts	$450,000	3	$150,000
37. Jim McElwain	Colorado State	$1,500,000	10	$150,000
38. Mark Helfrich	Oregon	$2,000,000	13	$153,846
39. Ruffin McNeill	East Carolina	$1,252,500	8	$156,250
40. Charlie Partridge	Florida Atlantic	$500,000	3	$166,667
41. Larry Blakeney	Troy	$518,788	3	$172,929
42. Ron Caragher	San Jose State	$525,000	3	$175,000
43. Dan McCarney	North Texas	$711,600	4	$177,500
44. Brian Kelly	Notre Dame	$1,457,284	8	$182,161
45. Doug Martin	New Mexico State	$377,044	2	$188,022
46. Paul Haynes	Kent State	$383,700	2	$191,250
47. Bob Davie	New Mexico	$783,690	4	$193,173
48. Ken Niumatalolo	Navy	$1,574,810	8	$196,851
49. George O'Leary	Central Florida	$1,800,000	9	$200,000
50. Gary Andersen	Wisconsin	$2,285,000	11	$200,000
51. David Cutcliffe	Duke	$1,840,341	9	$204,482
52. Craig Bohl	Wyoming	$832,000	4	$208,000
53. Jeff Monken	Army	$834,667	4	$208,667
54. Chris Creighton	Eastern Michigan	$425,000	2	$212,500
55. Dave Doeren	NC State	$1,800,000	8	$225,000
56. Chuck Martin	Miami (Ohio)	$450,000	2	$225,000
57. Todd Monken	Southern Mississippi	$700,000	3	$233,333
58. Tim DeRuyter	Fresno State	$1,435,000	6	$233,333
59. Paul Johnson	Georgia Tech	$2,590,500	11	$235,273
60. Tommy Tuberville	Cincinnati	$2,200,000	9	$244,444
61. Kyle Whittingham	Utah	$2,200,000	9	$244,444
62. David Shaw	Stanford	$2,012,666	8	$251,583
63. Jerry Kill	Minnesota	$2,100,000	8	$262,500
64. Paul Chryst	Pittsburgh	$1,578,757	6	$263,126
65. Todd Graham	Arizona State	$2,702,960	10	$270,000
66. Jimbo Fisher	Florida State	$3,591,667	13	$276,282
67. Art Briles	Baylor	$3,135,146	11	$285,013
68. Willie Taggart	South Florida	$1,182,000	4	$287,500
69. Curtis Johnson	Tulane	$867,000	3	$289,000
70. Rich Rodriguez	Arizona	$3,298,500	10	$289,850
71. Randy Edsall	Maryland	$2,033,880	7	$290,526
72. Dan Mullen	Mississippi State	$3,000,000	10	$300,000
73. Mike Riley	Oregon State	$1,510,008	5	$302,002
74. Larry Fedora	North Carolina	$1,830,000	6	$305,000
75. Gary Pinkel	Missouri	$3,400,000	11	$309,091
76. Dabo Swinney	Clemson	$3,175,100	10	$315,000
77. Mark Richt	Georgia	$3,314,000	10	$320,000
78. Urban Meyer	Ohio State	$4,536,640	14	$320,474
79. Bill Snyder	Kansas State	$2,900,000	9	$322,222
80. Tim Beckman	Illinois	$1,950,250	6	$325,000
81. Jim Mora	UCLA	$3,250,000	10	$325,000
82. Kevin Wilson	Indiana	$1,301,644	4	$325,411
83. Bobby Petrino	Louisville	$3,000,000	9	$333,333
84. Hugh Freeze	Mississippi	$3,018,000	9	$333,333
85. Gary Patterson	Texas Christian	$4,008,150	12	$334,013
86. Bo Pelini	Nebraska	$3,077,646	9	$341,961
87. Frank Beamer	Virginia Tech	$2,660,913	7	$345,845
88. Sonny Dykes	California	$1,808,000	5	$360,000
89. Al Golden	Miami	$2,250,943	6	$375,157
90. Bill Blankenship	Tulsa	$759,436	2	$379,718
91. Paul Petrino	Idaho	$400,011	1	$400,011
92. Butch Jones	Tennessee	$2,960,000	7	$422,857
93. Bobby Hauck	UNLV	$850,000	2	$425,000
94. Dana Holgorsen	West Virginia	$3,080,000	7	$440,000
95. Will Muschamp*	Florida	$2,731,000	6	$455,167
96. Bret Bielema	Arkansas	$3,214,000	7	$457,143
97. Mike London	Virginia	$2,303,599	5	$459,683
98. Chris Petersen	Washington	$3,681,720	8	$460,215
99. Gus Malzahn	Auburn	$3,854,500	8	$481,250
100. Pat Fitzgerald	Northwestern	$2,480,967	5	$496,193
101. Mike Gundy	Oklahoma State	$3,500,000	7	$500,000
102. Trent Miles	Georgia State	$510,000	1	$510,000
103. Mark Dantonio	Michigan State	$5,636,145	11	$510,168
104. Les Miles	LSU	$4,369,582	8	$537,500
105. Mark Stoops	Kentucky	$2,701,600	5	$540,000
106. Brady Hoke	Michigan	$2,856,000	5	$570,800
107. Steve Spurrier	South Carolina	$4,016,900	7	$571,429
108. Kirk Ferentz	Iowa	$4,075,000	7	$582,143
109. Nick Saban	Alabama	$7,160,187	12	$596,682
110. James Franklin	Penn State	$4,300,000	7	$614,286
111. Kevin Sumlin	Texas A&M	$5,006,000	8	$625,000
112. Bob Stoops	Oklahoma	$5,058,333	8	$632,292
113. Kliff Kingsbury	Texas Tech	$2,605,300	4	$651,250
114. Darrell Hazell	Purdue	$2,090,000	3	$696,667
115. Bob Diaco	Connecticut	$1,500,000	2	$750,000
116. Charlie Strong	Texas	$5,000,270	6	$833,333
117. Paul Rhoads	Iowa State	$1,808,025	2	$900,000
118. Mike Leach	Washington State	$2,750,000	3	$916,667
119. Mike MacIntyre	Colorado	$2,010,150	2	$1,004,250
120. Charlie Weis*	Kansas	$2,500,000	2	$1,200,000
121. June Jones*	SMU	$2,019,718	1	$2,019,718
Steve Addazio	Boston College	—	7	—
Dave Clawson	Wake Forest	—	3	—
Derek Mason	Vanderbilt	—	3	—
Bronco Mendenhall	BYU	—	8	—
Matt Rhule	Temple	—	6	—
Steve Sarkisian	USC	—	9	—
Scott Shafer	Syracuse	—	3	—

*fired midseason

Key Takeaway

On a win-per-dollar basis, the little guys will always beat the big guys. The No. 1 power-conference value, Flood, rank No. 30 on the full FBS table. The No. 3 power-conference value, Andersen, ranks No. 50.

Again, reading these numbers requires context. Power conference teams pay more per win because their wins, when accumulated near 10 or 11 per season, lead to major bowls on national stages.

And those are worth every penny.

Follow Brian Leigh on Twitter: @BLeigh35