Highest Paid NCAA Football Coaches in 2025

It might surprise you to learn that in the United States, NCAA College sports are just as big as professional sports leagues and sometimes even bigger. None are bigger than NCAA football, which ranks third in popularity behind only the NFL and MLB. Every Saturday, tens or even hundreds of thousands of fans gather at college football stadiums around the country. Most fans stay loyal to their alma maters or local college teams for their entire lives.

Up until 2021, NCAA athletes did not get paid for playing for their colleges. The belief was that the best athletes would more than make enough at the NFL level. Now, with the NIL (name, image, likeness) legislation in effect, college athletes can get paid via sponsorships with major corporations and product promotions.

One group of people that has always been paid well in college sports are the coaches. NCAA football coaches are some of the highest-paid coaches in sports, trailing only NFL and NBA coach salaries. Let’s take a look at which schools pay their coaches the highest salaries in 2025.

Who Are The Highest-Paid NCAA Football Coaches in 2025?

It should come as no surprise that most of the highest-paid NCAA football coaches are with the biggest football schools in the country. We should also keep in mind that the biggest football schools aren’t always the most successful. Often it can come down to the schools with the most money or with the wealthiest alma maters giving the biggest donations.

So which NCAA football coaches are making the big bucks this season? It’s an impressive list as some of these coaches make more than most professional athletes do. Here are the top-ten highest-paid NCAA football coaches in 2025.

10. Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss), Mark Stoops (University of Kentucky), Eli Drinkwitz (University of Missouri), Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame) – $9.0 million

That’s right, all of these coaches are earning $9 million per season. Just because they haven’t quite cracked the $10 million threshold, it does not mean they aren’t good coaches. Marcus Freeman just took Notre Dame all the way to the NCAA College Football Championship. Drinkwitz led Missouri to a Music City Bowl victory and Kiffin led Ole Miss to a Gator Bowl victory.

9. Brian Kelly (LSU) – $9.9 million

Brian Kelly was a highly sought-after coach when he was at Notre Dame. Kelly resigned from Notre Dame after eleven seasons with the Irish when the LSU position opened up. In three seasons with LSU, Kelly has amassed a 29-11 record but has failed to take the team to the College Football Playoffs.

8. Bill Belichick (University of North Carolina) – $10 million

Yes, that Bill Belichick. The former New England Patriots coach won six Super Bowl victories as the coach of the team with Tom Brady as his quarterback. In 2024, after 24 seasons with the Patriots, the two sides mutually agreed to part ways. After a season away from football, Belichick signed a five-year deal with the University of North Carolina where he will earn $10 million per season for the first three years. There is an asterisk though: his salary from the school is $1 million per season with an additional $9 million in ‘supplemental income’.

7. Lincoln Riley (USC) – $10.1 million

Riley had a successful coaching career with the Oklahoma Sooners, where he took the school to four consecutive Big 12 Conference Championships and amassed a 55-10 record. While at Oklahoma, Riley coached NFL quarterbacks like Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, and Jalen Hurts. In 2022, Riley signed a massive contract with USC for ten years worth $110 million.

6. Kalen DeBoer (University of Alabama) – $10.25 million

DeBoer had the unenviable task of taking over for legendary college coach Nick Saban when he left the program in 2024 after 17 seasons. DeBoer is a young coach but had incredible success at the University of Washington where he led the Huskies to the NCAA College Football Championship game in 2024. The Huskies had a 14-1 record that year, with their only loss coming in the Championship game against the University of Michigan. DeBoer signed an eight-year deal with Alabama that will pay him through 2031.

5. Steve Sarkisian (University of Texas) – $10.6 million

Sarkisian has a long track record of success in NCAA football. He coached alongside Nick Saban at Alabama where he won the Offensive Coordinator of the Year Award in 2020. Sarkisian signed a six-year $34.2 million contract with Texas in 2021 and signed an extension in 2024 through 2030 which will see him getting paid $10.6 million per year.

4. Dan Lanning (University of Oregon) – $11 million

Lanning is the newest member of the $10 million NCAA football coach club. He signed a new contract with the Ducks in March that will pay him $11 million per season through 2030. Lanning has been successful with Oregon, pacing them to a 35-6 record and losing to Ohio State this year in the Rose Bowl. In the regular season, Oregon had a perfect 12-0 record, including a victory over Ohio State, before losing to them in the playoffs.

3. Dabo Swinney (Clemson University) – $11.5 million

The head coach of the Clemson Tigers certainly has the resume to back up his lofty salary. Swinney has two NCAA Football National Championships in 2016 and 2018 and 9 ACC Championships. He is widely considered one of the top NCAA college football coaches in the country and is signed with Clemson through 2031.

2. Ryan Day (Ohio State Univesity) – $12.5 million

Day certainly deserves this gigantic salary after winning the NCAA College Football Championship in 2025. He has an impressive 75-10 record at Ohio State and was named the Big Ten coach of the year in 2019. Upon winning the Championship this year, Ohio State gave Day a nice raise, bumping his annual salary to $12.5 million through 2031.

1. Kirby Smart (University of Georgia) – $13.2 million

At the top of the NCAA football mountain is top dog Georgia coach Kirby Smart. He has a sparkling 105-19 record with the Bulldogs and won back-to-back National Championships in 2021 and 2022. Smart has won the SEC Championship three times and has been named SEC Coach of the Year three times. In 2022, Smart signed a massive contract extension for ten years worth $112.5 million.

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