College football is big business and that’s why the top teams in the country pay the big bucks to hire the best coaches. Put into context against Premier League soccer in England, only Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola earns more than any of the top five college football coaches in the States.
Leading the way in earnings is the University of Georgia’s Kirby Smart, whose annually salary is a staggering $13 million per season. That supersedes his predecessor Nick Saban, who was paid $11.4 million in 2023, before retiring with the most national titles in NCAA history.
The richest program in the country, University of Texas, pays its coach Steve Sarkisian $10.6 million from its annual revenue of $178 million – that’s an incredible 47% increase from his previous salary, having committed to the Longhorns through to 2030 as they go in search of their first title since 2005. Sarkisian is just head of Alabama’s newly hired Kalen DeBoer, will make a whopping $10 million from his first season coaching.
Mike Norvell of the Florida States Seminoles earns $9.8 million and has the opportunity to make over $1 million in bonuses in 2024. Here are the top 10 biggest earners:
- Kirkby Smart (Georgia) - $13 million
College Football dwarfs soccer in the States when it comes to fan base, media value and revenue, and while coaches involved in the round ball game can perhaps only dream of the earning potential of their football countparts, it is still a well-paid occupation in relative terms at the top level of the game.
The top earning college soccer coach is Sasho Cirovski, the head coach of the University of Maryland men's soccer team, earning a total compensation of $594,309. He’s been head coach since 1993 and has led his team to three national championships in 2005, 2008 and 2018, together with numerous conference titles. Prior to his retirement, Notre Dame’s Bobby Clark – the former Scotland international goalkeeper, was the second highest paid coach on the list, taking home $352,000, having helped the Fighting Irish to its first national championship in 2013 and no fewer than five Big East titles. Like Football, Clemson University is featured high on the list, and their former head coach Mike Noonan was paid $327,000, going out on a high in his final season by winning the National Championship and the ACC Tournament Crown.
Duke University’s John Kerr is the fourth-highest-paid coach on the list, earning a total salary of $321,495. Since taking over the Blue Devils soccer program in 2008, Kerr has led Duke to multiple NCAA Tournament appearances and ACC championships.
Todd Yeagley, the head coach of the Indiana University men's soccer team, sits in fifth place on the list of highest paid college soccer coaches, and his success in leading the program to two national championships (2012 and 2020), in additional to several Big Ten titles, sees him command annual earnings of $313,000.
Sources - USA Today, Yahoo Sports, The Athletic and CollegeSoccer.Co
