College football's top 25 highest-paid coaches for 2024 season

It is good to be a college football head coach's bank account. Honestly, we all know that money is stored away in the stock market or in real estate anyway, but man, look at what some of these coaches are making ahead of this season. It was not that long ago that $5 million annually was the benchmark for being a high-end head coach. Now, I would say that you need to be making $7 million.

While not all private schools disclose what their head coaches are making, those lead public institutions as state employees certainly have their salaries out there for the world to see. Although some people may think this is too much to pay one coach, think about the Nick Saban effect and what it did for the University of Alabama as a whole. The Crimson Tide are so much better off for it.

Here are the 27 college football coaches who will make the most money for the 2024 college season, per On3Sports.

1. Kirby Smart, Georgia Bulldogs ($13 million)
2. Dabo Swinney, Clemson Tigers ($11 million)
3. Steve Sarkisian, Texas Longhorns ($10.3 million)
4. Ryan Day, Ohio State Buckeyes ($10.27125 million)
5. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama Crimson Tide ($10 million)
6. Mike Norvell, Florida State Seminoles (10 million)
7. Lincoln Riley, USC Trojans ($10 million)
8. Brian Kelly, LSU Tigers ($9.975 million)
9. Mark Stoops, Kentucky Wildcats ($9.0136 million)
10. Matt Rhule, Nebraska Cornhuskers ($9 million)
11. Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss Rebels ($9 million)
12. Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri Tigers ($9 million)
13. Josh Heupel, Tennessee Volunteers ($9 million)
14. James Franklin, Penn State Nittany Lions ($8.5 million)
15. Brent Venables, Oklahoma Sooners ($8.15 million)
16. Mario Cristobal, Miami Hurricanes ($8 million)
17. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State Cowboys ($7.75 million)
18. Luke Fickell, Wisconsin Badgers ($7.625 million)
19. Deion Sanders, Colorado Buffaloes ($7.5 million)
20. Billy Napier, Florida Gators ($7.3 million)
21. Jonathan Smith, Michigan State Spartans ($7.25 million)
22. Mike Elko, Texas A&M Aggies ($7 million)
23. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa Hawkeys ($7 million)
24. Dan Lanning, Oregon Ducks ($7 million)
25. Hugh Freeze, Auburn Tigers ($6.5 million)
26. Bret Bielema, Illinois Fighting Illini ($6.5 million)
27. Kyle Whittingham, Utah Utes ($6.5 million)

The two most highest compensated head coaches make all the sense in the world. Kirby Smart and Dabo Swinney have each won a pair of College Football Playoff National Championships in the last decade. After that, Steve Sarkisian, Ryan Day, Kalen DeBoer and Lincoln Riley have all been there before. For all intents and purposes, Mike Norvell should have made it last year leading Florida State.

Let's discuss among these 27 head coaches who needs a raise and who is being paid way too much.

Top 25 college football head coaches salaries for the 2024 college season

Across the board, I wouldn't say that anybody is making way more than they should. All of whom are either having great success at their current school, or have had success previously at other institutions. That being said, Mario Cristobal making $8 million to be around .500 at his alma mater of Miami is a terrible look. Kirk Ferentz making $7 million to have an atrocious offense at Iowa is strange.

As far as who needs to be making more than what On3 has listed as their 2024 coaching salary, let's start with Dan Lanning. He may only be entering his third season as a head coach at Oregon, but I would argue he is the best coach in the Big Ten. We are talking about a top-five coach in the sport, and arguably the best in a Power Two conference. A playoff berth should get him to $10 million.

Overall, it is quite hard to be up in arms about what some of these coaches are making. Yes, Billy Napier making over $7 million to win no more than seven games a season at Florida seems rich, but what you have to remember is he was outstanding previously at Louisiana, and that may just be the going rate for a second-time head coach taking over at traditional power like Florida over in the SEC.

With college football being a big money sport, expect for coaching salaries to continue to climb.