5 college football coaches who would be fired today if not for a massive buyout

When you make exceptions for unexceptional people, that is when you get yourself in trouble. At some point in their career, these five men were exceptional college football coaches. Not to say that they are bad by any means, but the compensation they are slated to receive now and in the future doesn't make sense on the financial ledger. Football is a "what have you done for me lately?" sport.

At some point down the line, we may question why some of the most highly compensated head coaches are making that much. Then again, guys like Kirby Smart and Dabo Swinney have won multiple national championships recently, as well as guys like Ryan Day and Brian Kelly regularly making the College Football Playoff at their blue-blooded institutions. I am not talking about them...

What I am going to do today is take a look at five college football head coaches who might already be out the door if not for the massive buyouts they carry with them. We did see Texas A&M kick Jimbo Fisher to the curb for the steep price of $76 million. Even Indiana moved on from Tom Allen after kicking his buyout down from roughly $20 million to two installments of $7.5 million a pop. Indiana!

Let's start with a head coach who must prove he can win with his own guys and not his predecessors'.

5. Baylor Bears head coach Dave Aranda: $20 million

The 2021 Baylor football season sure was something. Dave Aranda guided the Bears to a 12-2 season, one where they won the Big 12, prevented Oklahoma State from going to the playoff. and then went on to beat Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl. That season netted him an eight-year extension with Baylor. He has gone 9-16 (6-12) in the two years since. Aranda's buyout is now roughly $20 million...

Since Baylor is a private institution, we don't know all the intricacies of Aranda's contract, since it is not publicly disclosed. Aranda is making about $3.8 million a year to coach Baylor currently. While that is well below the national average for a coach who has actually won something, I really wonder if Baylor is truly ready to pay Aranda roughly $20 million to not coach the Bears' football team any more.

Aranda will find work immediately as a defensive coordinator, but he so won with Matt Rhule's players.

4. Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier: $25.7 million

While I think there is a way Baylor could justify another losing season under Dave Aranda, the same principle cannot be applied to Billy Napier at Florida. The Gators hired him after a tremendous four-year run at Louisiana. He went 40-12 (27-5) leading the Ragin' Cajuns from 2018-21. Unfortunately, he has gone 11-14 (6-10) during his two years at Florida. The Gators' regular-season schedule is brutal.

Where things stand now, it would cost Florida roughly $25.7 million to fire Napier after three losing seasons. If you want to know how hard their schedule is, if Florida went 8-4, the Gators might actually make the playoff. They finish the season with Georgia, Texas, LSU, Ole Miss and Florida State. They also play Miami and UCF in their non-conference, as well as Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas A&M.

If Florid were to go 6-6, Napier should get a raise, but this team is sadly going 3-9 or worse, y'all...

3. Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz: $36 million

Smile like you're in a hostage situation. The affection the Iowa faithful have for head coach Kirk Ferentz is essentially Stockholm Syndrome at this point. I wish I could tell them to move on from the soon-to-be 69-year-old, but the athletic director position hasn't taken. Even with Brian Ferentz gone, his father's ludicrous absurd contract remains. He is under contract at $6 million annually to 2029.

According to math, $6 million annually for the next six seasons will equate to a buyout of roughly $36 million. Ferentz is a Hall of Fame head coach, but does the college football world need to see him coaching until he is 74? Nick Saban didn't even make it that long, and he was actually making the playoff. Stubborn as hell with an offense that grew up living in a nuclear family, rip the band-aid off...

Is $36 million now all that much worse than $30 million next year or $24 million two years from now?

2. Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin: $56 million

"The Driver" James Franklin is going to keep his hands at 10 and 2 so that he can go 10 and 2 until the sun engulfs our dying planet. Lincoln Riley taking over at USC was the best thing for Franklin's bank account. Although Penn State has been a top-10 program in college football since Franklin's big payday, the Nittany Lions are not going to win a national title under him unless chaos devours everyone.

His buyout was originally at $72 million in 2022, but has dropped down to $56 million in the years since. It equates to $8 million annually, and he is on the hook for the next seven. Is Penn State going to win a national title in the next seven years? Georgia will. I will be in my 40s, happily married and with a couple of kids by then. Penn State is one 7-5 disaster of a season from punting on this Baby Driver.

No playoff berths in a decade cannot be sitting well with the Penn State faithful over its head coach.

1. Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal: $62 million

When Miami hired former Oregon head coach and Hurricanes offensive lineman Mario Cristobal to be their next head coach, they thought their dollar would go further. Although Miami is too a private school like Baylor, it was revealed that Cristobal inked a 10-year deal with his alma mater for a cool $80 million, meaning he is getting paid at least $8 million annually. His buyout is at least $62 million!

In two years at The U, Cristobal has gone a disastrous 12-13 (6-10). His team failed to reach a bowl game in year one after many tabbed the Canes to win the ACC Coastal one final time. They should be at least one win better, but rampant blockheaded nonsense resulted in Miami not taking a knee vs. ACC rival Georgia Tech. It allowed the Yellow Jackets to go bowling, while Miami looked so stupid.

The man can recruit, but he does not know the difference between x's and o's. They're all scribbles!