College Football: Who's the Top 20 Highest Paid Coaches and Who's Worth It?

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer)

Some people earn every dime they're paid as coaches in college football by fielding teams that are contenders for titles and for the great recruiting they do while others are simply paid huge salaries because their schools simply hope that they'll do those things.

Let's take a look at the top 20 in salary and rate them in one of three categories, getting their money's worth, getting taken and the jury's still out. 

Those who get the getting their money's worth rating are clearly earning their pay, getting taken means that this coach's school is getting taken for handing so much cash over to a coach that is clearly not worth the pay they're receiving and getting a chance means the school is investing in a coach and it's too soon to tell whether it's going to be a good payoff or not.

This article does not include bonuses, bowl payouts and other factors, just the salaries as reported by the schools.

20: Jeff Tedford - California - Pac 10; $2.3 million 

Since the 2006 season when Cal went 10-3 and won the Pac-10, the program has finished no higher than fourth in the Pac-10. Last year, they were just 5-7.

When all the stats are pointing downward for a few years, you no longer are worth what you were at the top.

Cal is getting taken

19. Paul Johnson - Ga. Tech - ACC; $2.4 million

What a dilemma here. He came to Tech and went 9-4, tied for first in the Coastal Division in his first year in 2007, then went 11-3 and won the Coastal Division outright.

Then, the wheels fell off last year with a dismal 6-7 season. Do coaches in the top 20 in salary deserve to be there with a losing record?

Right now, the jury is out on a decision on Johnson, and only a winning or losing season this year will tip the scales.

18. Bret Bielema - Wisconsin - Big Ten; $2.5 million

Beilema has the Badgers in the thick of the Big Ten year after year, and this year could be no exception. He shared the crown last year but could win it all by themselves this year.

After a 12-win opening season, he had a few shaky years, but back-to-back great seasons has him going back in the right direction.

Wisconsin is in the hunt for another Big Ten title, and that along with his recent resume means Wisconsin is certainly getting their money's worth.

17. Houston Nutt - Ole Miss - SEC; $2.5 million

What a difference a year makes. In 2009, Ole Miss fans thought they had a bargain, in 2010 those same fans were left scratching their heads wondering what happened.

Nutt thought bringing in a one-year mercenary could help them stay atop the top tier of the SEC, but that backfired and now has the team left with no experience again this year.

After this year, fans will know that they're not getting their money's worth from Nutt.

16. Gary Pinkel - Missouri - Big 12; $2.6 million

Pinkel's been up and down but is currently back on the upswing. And not knocking Missouri, but having been on the upswing at all is an accomplishment, and Pinkel has won 10 or more games there three times including last year's 10-3 campaign.

Sometimes it's not exactly the number of wins but the school you're coaching at that determines just how hard you have worked for your money.

The fact that Pinkel has done so well at Missouri means they are getting their money's worth out of him.

15. Jimbo Fisher - Florida State - ACC; $2.8 million

Earning more than a lot of coaches who have actually accomplished much more, the initial thought may be that the Seminoles have overpaid for a first-time head coach.

But looking at the talent he's bringing in and the way that he's turning the program around and the expectations for Florida State to return to the top 20, possibly the top 10, it looks like Noles are getting their money's worth.

14. Will Muschamp - Florida - SEC; $2.8 million

Will has done nothing great so far; the recruits he's brought in are good but not as spectacular as some classes Florida's had lately. That's a lot of money for a guy who's never been a head coach for one quarter.

Right now, the jury's still out right now.

13. Bo Pelini - Nebraska - Big Ten; $2.8 million

Bo was a great coach in the Big 12, he will be a great coach in the Big 10 and he would be a great coach anywhere.

Bo is undervalued right now, and if Nebraska doesn't step up to the plate with a big raise soon, others will come calling with better offers.

Husker fans are really getting their money's worth from Bo.

12. Steve Spurrier - South Carolina - SEC; $2.8 million

This is the second big name that South Carolina has gone after. Lou Holtz fizzled and never produced and Spurrier has not exactly set the world on fire even though he did claim the SEC East title for the Gamecocks last year.

However, it was a year when the SEC East was the weakest it has been in a very long time so that accomplishment seems very tame now in looking back at it.

Still however, at $2.8 million, the Gamecocks have a coach that is wearing national championship rings, and he's showing he still has some gas in the tank, and considering other national title winners, are pulling in so much more, the folks at South Carolina seem to be getting their money's worth with Steve.

11. Chip Kelly - Oregon - Pac-10; $2.8 million

Oh so close! That's how close Kelly came to a bigger paycheck and some national championship bling this past year. Only a timely field goal from Auburn kept the Ducks from winning it all.

Kelly has brought in the recruits, built up the program to perhaps start dominating the Pac-10 and keeping the Ducks in the talk for national titles as well.

Oregon should get the lawyers ready, a new contract for Kelly can't be far away. Right now, considering he's making so much less that Lane Kiffin who's proven nothing, they're going to have pony up and do so pretty soon. They are more than getting their money's worth.

10. Mark Richt - Georgia - SEC; $2.8 million

There's a reason an SEC coach with more than 10 years of head coaching experience is still making what first year newbies are making—he hasn't done anything to justify a raise up to the standards of the top coaches.

Richt couldn't seal the deal in the past several years with or without talents, and last year, no matter how you want to paint it, the Bulldogs just plain sucked.

Since his winning percentage is on a downhill slide and the program seems to be continuing to slide in the wrong direction, perhaps the Bulldogs will start looking elsewhere unless he reverses this slide.

Based only on what he's done in the last four years, the Dawgs aren't getting their money's worth.

9. Jim Grobe - Wake Forest - ACC; $2.9 million

Jim Grobe is a fine coach, but Wake Forest? Does any coach at Wake Forest deserve to be one of the top 10 highest paid coaches in college football?

I could write more and give justification. But this is, after all, Wake Forest we're talking about, and there is simply no way Grobe is doing $2.9 million worth of work in turning this program into a powerhouse.

Not with that soul-sucking 3-9 season last year. Wake Forest is not getting their money's worth.

8. Bobby Petrino - Arkansas - SEC; $3.6 million

Ah, now we've reached the upper strata of salaries—the $3 million-and-up club, and it gets to be exclusive here.

Bobby Petrino came to Arkansas with a bad reputation for jumping ship from one job to another but seems to have found a home in the land of big red Razorbacks.

And there's a reason Petrino is happy here. He's bringing in great recruits, turning the program into a consistent winner and putting them into the mix of the SEC's top teams.

$3.6 million is a lot of money, and even though Petrino has done nothing at Arkansas to justify that salary, many believe he will and as long as the win count keeps going up. They could be right, but right now, the jury is still out on giving him that much money.

7. Jim Tressel - Ohio State - Big Ten; $3.7 million

Until the scandal, you may have been able to make the argument he was worth it. Now that he's been exposed as a stratospheric liar and cheat, he's not worth a nickel and will only be worth the unemployment checks he'll soon be justified in receiving.

Jim Tressel has proven that he has the skills to be worth that pay grade and the common sense and morality to be worth less than a nickel. To have risked his job and the program's reputation for such minor silly things as he did means that Ohio State is certainly not getting their money's worth from this moronic liar.

6. Les Miles - LSU - SEC; $3.8 million

Not many writers have slammed Les Miles for stupid coaching decisions and throwing his own players under the bus, but in the end, he doesn't have the NCAA slamming the program (yet) and he wins games—lots of them.

He has his team in the thick of the SEC every year, and this year has the college football world wondering if they can win it all, and that's just what he's paid to do.

How can you say that despite his shortcomings, which are many and well-documented, that he's not earning all that money by fulfilling the requirements of what we expect a coach to do?

LSU is getting their money's worth out of Les, and maybe, they will for a while.

5. Kirk Ferentz - Iowa - Big Ten; $3.8 million

At this salary level, you should be able to point to multiple conference championships and even a national title, and despite being a fine coach, Ferentz just isn't in that league.

And it's not that he's really doing anything that makes the press think that these are things that are going to happen anytime soon.

Despite always turning in a bowl year every season, Ferentz just isn't giving Iowa their money's worth.

4. Lane Kiffin - USC - Pac-10; $4 million

Is there anyone more born to coaching with a silver spoon in his mouth that deserves to have placed in another orifice?

Lane Kiffin gets the salary he does for dragging his famous father along with him. Once Monty retires, Lane Kiffin will be as attractive as the ugliest drunk girl after last call at the local college town bar.

No coach on this list is as undeserving on his own merit as Lane Kiffin. If anybody disagrees, please show me the title or titles of any kind that he's ever won.

Lane Kiffin, the fourth-highest paid coach in college football? What a joke. USC is not getting close to their money's worth.

3. Bob Stoops - Oklahoma - Big Twelve; $4.5 million

Let's see, conference titles, check, national titles, check, in the talk for more national titles, check.

A great recruiter, a great game-day coach and an administrator that has kept the team from major NCAA infractions only rounds out the resume of a coach that every team would want to have.

Ask any Oklahoma fan if they think they're getting their money's worth and I doubt you would find one that would say no. Oklahoma is definitely getting their money's worth.

2. Mack Brown - Texas - Big Twelve; $5.1 million

In his day, Mack certainly was worth the cash the Longhorns happily paid out, but no coach making more than $5 million is worth his pay if he can't even get his team to the Weedeater Bowl.

Harsh? Hardly. One only has to wonder what Brown did with all that top talent he brought in every year over the last five years.

Mack is on the backside of career and it's showing. Can he rebound? Yes. Will he? Unknown. But what is known is that, right now, the Texas administration is being taken. He's not worth the $5.1 million dollar salary he's receiving.

1. Nick Saban - Alabama - SEC; $5.2 million

The biggest question that has to be answered in earning your money is are you meeting expectations? Though the folks at Alabama certainly have high expectations, Saban has done everything the fans had hoped he would do when he was hired.

SEC Champions? Check. National Champions? Check. In the talk for more tiles? Check.

No coach in the NCAA brings in better recruiting classes year in and year out than Nick Saban. This means that not only will he win now but in the future as well.

Keeping the team out of trouble with the NCAA was also job one since he inherited a team on probation and he has done that too.

There can only be one king and Nick Saban wears the crown well. Is he worth the salary? Bama fans would gladly kick in donations themselves to raise it.

Alabama is certainly getting their money's worth.