Which College Football Coaches Could Land the Biggest Bonuses This Bowl Season?
Bowl season, like virtually everything else in college football, is big business. From the naming rights deals to the commercial slots to the conference payouts, a lot of money is at stake over these next few weeks.
The postseason is also earning season for college football head coaches. Almost every coach in this year's bowl season—save for a pair of notable exceptions—made some extra cash by leading their respective teams to a bowl game. A few more can pick up more money with season-ending victories.
The payouts unsurprisingly are higher among those competing for a national championship in the second College Football Playoff, but some interesting figures can be found among the standard bowl games this season.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Here is the available bowl bonus information for the FBS head coaches in the 2015 bowl season, from the New Mexico Bowl all the way to the playoff semifinals.
Many of these bonus amounts were originally compiled by Steve Berkowitz of USA Today, the 2014 FBS coaches salary database at Newsday and local beat writers for several college programs.
College Football Playoff
| Dabo Swinney | Clemson | $375,000 | $400,000 | $100,000 |
| Nick Saban | Alabama | $110,000 | $100,000 | $100,000 |
| Mark Dantonio | Michigan State | $150,000 | $25,000 | $100,000 |
| Bob Stoops | Oklahoma | $300,000 | $50,000 | $325,000 |
The No. 1 seed in this year's College Football Playoff is also the No. 1 team when it comes to potential payouts for a national championship.
According to Aaron Brenner of the Post and Courier, Clemson would be on the hook for $500,000 if Dabo Swinney leads his Tigers to a win over Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl ($400,000) and a title game victory over the winner of Alabama and Michigan State ($100,000).
"Winning a national championship is a rare thing," Swinney said when asked about his bonuses, per Ed McGranahan of the State. "It’s like Halley’s Comet."
Swinney's upcoming opponent in south Florida, Bob Stoops, has the second-most money available for running the table in this year's playoff. According to Jason Kersey of the Oklahoman, the Oklahoma head coach would only receive $50,000 if his Sooners beat Clemson, but a national championship win would earn him a bonus of $325,000—more than any other coach in the field.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban received the lowest bonus of the four playoff-bound teams for reaching the final bracket, but former assistant and Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio has the smallest amount possible for winning a national title. Michigan State's bowl bonuses are compiled into a pool for all coaches.
"Bonuses allocated among Dantonio, assistants and other football staff, although at least $75,000 of bowl/CFP bonus must go to Dantonio," Berkowitz wrote. "Allocations made at athletics director Mark Hollis' discretion, with Dantonio's input."
New Year's Six Bowls
| Jimbo Fisher | Florida State | Peach | $150,000 | |
| Tom Herman | Houston | Peach | $100,000 (salary increase) | $75,000 |
| Urban Meyer | Ohio State | Fiesta | $200,000 | |
| Brian Kelly | Notre Dame | Fiesta | N/A* | |
| Kirk Ferentz | Iowa | Rose | $175,000 | $100,000 |
| David Shaw | Stanford | Rose | N/A* | |
| Hugh Freeze | Ole Miss | Sugar | $50,000 | |
| Mike Gundy | Oklahoma State | Sugar | $100,000 |
*contract information unavailable from private schools
Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz could cash in even more on his Hawkeyes' incredible 2015 season with a big-time victory over Stanford in the Rose Bowl. Ferentz will already receive $175,000 for making the Rose Bowl, as outlined in his contract, and he would earn $100,000 more for winning in Pasadena. The veteran head coach already earned $250,000 this year for going undefeated in Big Ten play.
In addition to a shiny grill, newly re-signed Houston head coach Tom Herman is in store for a one-time $75,000 bonus if his Cougars upset Florida State in the Peach Bowl. According to Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle, Herman already triggered a nice $200,000 increase in annual pay when Houston took home the AAC title—$100,000 for the conference win and $100,000 more for a New Year's Six berth.
Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer picked up one of the biggest bowl appearance bonuses of the entire year when his Buckeyes were selected to play in the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame.
Meyer's contract calls for a $200,000 bonus for reaching a CFP non-semifinal game. Another playoff appearance would've netted him $50,000 more, and the Buckeyes repeating as national champions would have been worth a total sum of $350,000.
Standard Bowls
| Rich Rodriguez | Arizona | New Mexico | $25,000 | |
| Bob Davie | New Mexico | New Mexico | $20,000 | |
| Bronco Mendenhall | BYU | Las Vegas | N/A* | |
| Kyle Whittingham | Utah | Las Vegas | $115,000 | |
| Frank Solich | Ohio | Camellia | ($43,000) | |
| Scott Satterfield | App State | Camellia | $25,000 | $10,000 |
| Ron Caragher | SJSU | Cure | $10,000 | |
| Trent Miles | Georgia State | Cure | $25,000 | ($50,000) |
| Blake Anderson | Arkansas State | New Orleans | $25,000 | |
| Skip Holtz | La. Tech | New Orleans | $25,000 | |
| Jeff Brohm | WKU | Miami Beach | $50,000 | |
| Willie Taggart | USF | Miami Beach | N/A** | |
| Terry Bowden | Akron | Potato | $25,000 | |
| Matt Wells | Utah State | Potato | $50,000 | |
| Jason Candle | Toledo | Boca Raton | N/A** | |
| Matt Rhule | Temple | Boca Raton | N/A** | |
| Bryan Harsin | Boise State | Poinsettia | $35,000 | |
| Rod Carey | NIU | Poinsettia | $25,000 | |
| Dell McGee** | Ga. Southern | GoDaddy | N/A** | |
| Brian Ward** | Bowling Green | GoDaddy | N/A** | |
| Rick Stockstill | MTSU | Bahamas | month's salary | |
| P.J. Fleck | W. Michigan | Bahamas | $50,000 | |
| Rocky Long | SDSU | Hawai'i | $50,000 | |
| Tommy Tuberville | Cincinnati | Hawai'i | $50,000 | |
| Bob Diaco | UConn | St. Pete | $33,000 | |
| Doc Holliday | Marshall | St. Pete | $30,000 | |
| Larry Scott** | Miami | Sun | N/A** | |
| Mike Leach | Wash. State | Sun | $75,000 | |
| Chris Petersen | Washington | Heart of Dallas | $75,000 | |
| Todd Monken | Southern Miss | Heart of Dallas | $15,000 | |
| Kevin Wilson | Indiana | Pinstripe | $150,000 | |
| David Cutcliffe | Duke | Pinstripe | N/A* | |
| Philip Montgomery | Tulsa | Independence | N/A** | |
| Frank Beamer | Virginia Tech | Independence | $25,000 | |
| Jim Mora | UCLA | Foster Farms | $40,000 | |
| Mike Riley | Nebraska | Foster Farms | (won't accept) | |
| Pat Narduzzi | Pittsburgh | Military | N/A** | |
| Ken Niumatalolo | Navy | Military | N/A* | |
| John Bonamego | C. Michigan | Quick Lane | $15,000 | $20,000 |
| Tracy Claeys | Minnesota | Quick Lane | $50,733 | |
| Sonny Dykes | California | Armed Forces | $25,000 | |
| Troy Calhoun | Air Force | Armed Forces | 10% of salary | |
| Art Briles | Baylor | Russell Athletic | N/A* | |
| Larry Fedora | North Carolina | Russell Athletic | month's salary | |
| Brian Polian | Nevada | Arizona | $15,000 | |
| Mike Bobo | Colorado State | Arizona | $50,000 | |
| Les Miles | LSU | Texas | $100,000 | |
| Kliff Kingsbury | Texas Tech | Texas | $25,000 | $25,000 |
| Gus Malzahn | Auburn | Birmingham | $50,000 | |
| Darrell Dickey** | Memphis | Birmingham | N/A** | |
| Dave Doeren | NC State | Belk | $75,000 | |
| Dan Mullen | Miss. State | Belk | $50,000 | |
| Kevin Sumlin | Texas A&M | Music City | $50,000 | |
| Bobby Petrino | Louisville | Music City | $291,667 | |
| Clay Helton | USC | Holiday | N/A* | |
| Paul Chryst | Wisconsin | Holiday | $100,000 | |
| Pat Fitzgerald | Northwestern | Outback | N/A* | |
| Butch Jones | Tennessee | Outback | $200,000 | |
| Jim Harbaugh | Michigan | Citrus | ||
| Jim McElwain | Florida | Citrus | $37,500 | |
| Bryan McClendon** | Georgia | TaxSlayer | N/A** | |
| James Franklin | Penn State | TaxSlayer | $200,000 | |
| Bill Snyder | Kansas State | Liberty | $50,000 | |
| Bret Bielema | Arkansas | Liberty | $50,000 | |
| Mark Helfrich | Oregon | Alamo | $50,000 | |
| Gary Patterson | TCU | Alamo | N/A* | |
| Dana Holgorsen | West Virginia | Cactus | $25,000 | $25,000 |
| Todd Graham | Arizona State | Cactus | month's salary | $25,000 |
*contract information unavailable from private schools
**interim coach for bowl game or new contract for permanent coach
Most head coaches don't receive bonuses for winning bowl games outside of the New Year's Six, but NC State's Dave Doeren would be in for quite a payday if his Wolfpack knocks off Mississippi State in the Belk Bowl on Dec. 30. According to Joe Giglio of the News & Observer, the contract Doeren signed in February states that he would receive $75,000 for winning "a bowl game outside the College Football Playoff structure."
Jeff Brohm of Western Kentucky picked up the second-biggest bonus for a standard bowl win on Monday afternoon, when his Hilltoppers defeated USF in the Miami Beach Bowl, per Chad Bishop of WBKO-TV. Western Michigan's P.J. Fleck could match that amount if the Broncos row the boat to the Bahamas and pick up the school's first-ever bowl victory.
Only two games this bowl season featured a matchup of coaches going for an additional bonus. Appalachian State's Scott Satterfield bested Ohio's Frank Solich in the first matchup, when Satterfield's Mountaineers rallied to win the Camellia Bowl last Saturday, 31-29.
The second bonus vs. bonus matchup will be all the way at the end of bowl season, when West Virginia's Dana Holgorsen and Arizona State's Todd Graham will square off for an extra $25,000 in the Cactus Bowl.
The biggest winner of bowl season outside of the New Year's Six crew will be none other than Louisville's Bobby Petrino, who has plenty of bonus incentives in his contract with the Cardinals. According to Berkowitz, Louisville's Academic Progress Rate score affects Petrino's already-large bowl bonus, which means that he nailed down $291,667 when the Cards became bowl-eligible.
Other coaches who picked up six figures for making it to standard bowl games this season include Utah's Kyle Whittingham, Indiana's Kevin Wilson, LSU's Les Miles, Wisconsin's Paul Chryst, Tennessee's Butch Jones and Penn State's James Franklin. According to Patrick Brown of the Times Free-Press, Jones' recently signed contract will cut down his $200,000 bonus for standard bowl bids.
Of the three 5-7 teams that made bowl games this season—San Jose State, Minnesota and Nebraska—Mike Riley and his Nebraska staff were the only ones who didn't get bonuses, per Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune.
Minnesota's Tracy Claeys will get a prorated bonus of $50,733 for his work this season as a defensive coordinator and interim head coach, while Ron Caragher will receive $10,000 for appearing in last Saturday's inaugural Cure Bowl.
Riley said he "agreed wholeheartedly" with Nebraska's decision to not award bowl bonuses for its 5-7 regular season, per Sam McKewon of the Omaha World-Herald:
"It’s obviously an administrative decision, but I agreed wholeheartedly. [Nebraska athletic director Shawn Eichorst] brought it up to me and said, ‘What do you think?’ I think that’s appropriate. We’re just very fortunate to play another game. In the normal scheme of things we weren’t bowl eligible. We’re just fortunate we get to go. The credit belongs to the university for having that APR.
"
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh did not get a bonus for making it to a standard bowl game in his first seasons with the Wolverines. Per Nick Baumgardner of MLive.com, Harbaugh only gets a bowl bonus if Michigan makes a New Year's Six bowl or College Football Playoff semifinal. Talk about high expectations.
Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
