9 Most Overpaid Coaches in College Football Today
It’s no secret that there’s plenty of money to go around in college football. The new College Football Playoff, along with lucrative television contracts, have pumped a large infusion of cash into FBS athletic departments, and head coaches have benefited.
This week, Ohio State announced that coach Urban Meyer had received a new contract which will pay him $6.5 million annually, second nationally behind Alabama’s Nick Saban (who made $7.1 million in 2014, per a USA Today salary database). In the SEC, the coaches of both Mississippi schools, Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen and Ole Miss’ Hugh Freeze, received contract extensions which pushed their pay over $4 million annually.
In December, Michigan signed Jim Harbaugh to a deal that will pay him $5 million annually, continuing college football's arms race, as Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post noted.
“It’s simple, really,” agent Neil Cornrich, who represents Bob Stoops, Kirk Ferentz and other top coaches, told Kilgore. "As long as the revenues from college football continue to grow, all the numbers will follow.”
Last fall, 27 coaches were listed by USA Today with salaries of $3 million or more, a figure sure to jump this year.
With all that cash floating around, there are some programs which aren’t getting the biggest bang for their buck and athletic directors that regret handing out contracts. Here’s a look at the nine most overpaid coaches in college football. Unless otherwise noted, all salary figures came from the USA Today database.
Virginia Coach Mike London
1 of 9
Mike London will enter his sixth season as Virginia’s head coach firmly on the hot seat, and it’s easy to understand why. London is 23-38 overall as the Cavaliers’ leader, and just 11-29 in ACC play.
In that span, UVA has only one winning season, an 8-5 record in 2011. Since then, the program is 11-25 overall, 5-19 in ACC play. The Cavs just missed a bowl bid last fall, going 5-7 after losing a late lead in the season finale at Virginia Tech.
London has been paid handsomely despite his lack of success, making $2.298 million in 2014. That ranks No. 40 nationally and sixth among ACC schools who reported to the USA Today survey (private schools, Boston College, Syracuse and Wake Forest didn’t disclose salaries).
Virginia surely expects more for what it pays London, and if he doesn’t show improvement in 2015, a change would be less than surprising.
8. Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald
2 of 9
There was a time, not too long ago, when Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald was a hot name on the college football coaching carousel. When Fitzgerald was promoted to the Wildcats’ head-coaching position following Randy Walker’s sudden death in 2006, he was 31 years old and the youngest FBS head coach by five years.
In nine seasons, he has just four winning seasons, one 10-win season and one bowl win. Last fall, he made $2.48 million. In fact, Northwestern has just one winning season in the last four years and will enter 2015 coming off a pair of 5-7 campaigns.
Fitzgerald remains highly regarded, but the pressure is building in Evanston, and his paycheck doesn’t match Northwestern’s on-field results.
7. Cincinnati Coach Tommy Tuberville
3 of 9
Tommy Tuberville has enjoyed a long, fruitful head-coaching career. In 20 seasons as a head coach, Tuberville is 148-85 with stops at Ole Miss, Auburn, Texas Tech and Cincinnati. In 2014, he made $2.2 million, which is more than 16 Power Five head coaches, including Oregon’s Mark Helfrich and Stanford’s David Shaw.
While Tuberville has led Cincinnati to a pair of 9-4 records and a share of an American Athletic Conference championship, that salary seems to be based more in reputation than recent success. His last 10-win season was in 2006, an 11-2 mark at Auburn.
The Bearcats fancy themselves as worthy of the Power Five, and Tuberville’s paycheck reflects it. His results, however, are another story.
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6. Washington State Coach Mike Leach
4 of 9
Mike Leach’s teams are extremely fun to watch. Leach’s air-raid offense puts up points aplenty and always keeps his teams in games (or at least you think they are). But following great success at Texas Tech (84-43 and 10 bowls in 10 seasons), his system simply hasn’t clicked yet at Washington State.
In three seasons, the Cougars are 12-25 with one bowl appearance (a New Mexico Bowl loss that capped a 6-7 season in 2013). Last season, WSU slipped to 3-9, putting the pressure on Leach entering 2015. He made $2.75 million last fall, more than Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer or Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson and No. 31 nationally. That’s a poor return on Washington State’s investment.
5. Tennessee Coach Butch Jones
5 of 9
Make no mistake, Butch Jones is quietly building something good at Tennessee. Last fall, Jones took the Volunteers to their first bowl since 2010 while playing 23 freshmen. He added a great recruiting class in February, and expectations will be high for the Vols in 2015.
However, his resume at Tennessee still leaves something to be desired. In two seasons under Jones, the Vols are 12-13 with a 5-11 record in SEC play, all while Jones makes a $2.96 million annual salary. Some of that is simply the market for coaches; Jones was No. 11 among league coaches a year ago.
Jones has a pair of 10-win seasons on his resume at Central Michigan and Cincinnati, and he’ll be expected to put up similar numbers to pacify Tennessee fans and justify a contract that will now pay him $3.6 million annually following a December 2014 extension and raise.
4. Texas A&M Coach Kevin Sumlin
6 of 9
Everything’s bigger in Texas, including coaching salaries. Kevin Sumlin doesn’t mind. In 2014, the Texas A&M head coach made $5,006,000, which ranks as the nation’s No. 4 salary per USA Today. The Aggies are 28-11 in three seasons under his watch, going from 11-2 in his debut season to 8-5 last fall.
Consider this, however. Sumlin has yet to win even an SEC West title in College Station, and the Aggies’ win total has slipped each season, going from 11 to nine to eight. Last fall, he made more than three coaches with national titles on their resumes (Urban Meyer, Les Miles and Jimbo Fisher).
There’s little questioning Sumlin’s coaching ability. But his placement on the salary strata, relative to the national and league success of those around and below him, makes you wonder if A&M is paying for current or future success.
3. West Virginia Coach Dana Holgorsen
7 of 9
Dana Holgorsen began his West Virginia career with a splash. In 2011, Holgo led the Mountaineers to a 10-3 record and a 70-33 Orange Bowl blowout of Clemson, the most lopsided finish in BCS bowl history. Since then, however, WVU’s returns on a contract that paid him $3.08 million in 2014 have been questionable.
Over the last three seasons, the Mountaineers are 18-20 with no bowl wins, going 7-6, 4-8 and 7-6. Last fall’s 7-6 record was an improvement, as West Virginia was much more competitive against Big 12 foes, including a home upset of Baylor that kept the Bears from the College Football Playoff.
But West Virginia is just 11-16 in league play since joining the Big 12 three seasons ago. Holgorsen must find the magic that permeated 2011 quickly or he could find himself out of a job equally quickly.
2. Texas Tech Coach Kliff Kingsbury
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A year ago, Kliff Kingsbury was the toast of west Texas. One of the youngest head coaches in FBS, Kingsbury was coming off an 8-5 debut season as Texas Tech’s head coach that included a Holiday Bowl win over Arizona State. TTU officials responded by extending his contract through 2020; he made $2.6 million in 2014 and will make $3.1 million this fall.
How did he repay their largesse? With an ugly 4-8 season that featured the September resignation of defensive coordinator Matt Wallerstedt. Not exactly confidence-inducing. The Red Raiders defense was one of the worst in the nation, allowing 41.3 points per game, No. 126 nationally.
With a deal that features annual $200,000 raises, the pressure will be on Kingsbury to justify his bosses’ faith, starting with a turnaround season in 2015.
1. Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz
9 of 9
If you pay attention to college football salaries, you probably had little doubt who you’d find at the top of this list. Make no mistake that Kirk Ferentz has done plenty of good things in 16 seasons at Iowa. The Hawkeyes have four 10-win seasons, have shared a pair of Big Ten titles and have gone to 12 bowl games.
But over the last half-decade or so, Iowa’s return on investment has been middling at best. In 2010, Ferentz received a contract extension through 2020, which included a buyout that will pay him 75 percent of the remaining money left on the deal if he is fired without cause, per Forbes' Chris Smith. And that’s plenty of money. In 2014, he made $4.075 million, which ranked No. 9 nationally among 121 FBS coaches surveyed by USA Today (seven schools didn’t release figures).
He is also the most overpaid coach per Matt Jones of Sports on Earth, who listed the five most overpaid and underpaid coaches nationally.
Over the last four seasons, Iowa is 30-25 with no bowl wins, no nine-win seasons and a 15-17 Big Ten record. No matter what you think about the Hawkeyes’ style of play, those numbers just aren’t getting it done for a coach making north of $4 million annually.
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