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2025 NCAA football head coach salaries methodology
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- 2025 NCAA football head coach salaries methodology
To determine the total pay packages of the 136 Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches for their current contract years, USA TODAY Sports requested all forms of compensation for the coach from all public schools and obtained federal tax records or other required disclosures from private schools.
There are 26 schools or athletics departments that are private or are public schools covered under state law exempting them from releasing full compensation data on coaches. Schools that provided contract documents were given the opportunity to review their figures. Because of recent changes to the College Football Playoff format and to various conferences' former divisional structures, schools also were specifically given the opportunity to provide information about how those changes impacted existing bonus provisions.
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Any pay the university guaranteed (even if paid by shoe/apparel company or another source) is included as "School Pay." Anything not guaranteed by the university is included in "Total Pay."
A not available (—) in the chart denotes amounts from schools that are private, did not release the information, or are amounts that cannot otherwise be determined.
A $0 means the coach doesn't, or did not, get compensation from that source.
EXPLANATIONS OF COMPENSATION CATEGORIES
SCHOOL PAY:Base salary; income from contract provisions other than base salary that were to have been paid, or guaranteed, by the university or affiliated organizations, such as a foundation.
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Examples include payments in consideration for: shoe and apparel use; television, radio or other media appearances; personal appearances.
Except as noted, these amounts are based on the coach's annual pay rate for a full, standard-length contract year. Except as noted, they do not reflect amounts earned for a partial year worked immediately after hiring or a partial year worked at an annual pay rate other than the current amount.
It also includes deferred payments earned annually, conditional or otherwise; contractual expense accounts (if unaudited), housing allowances, personal travel allowances paid in cash or on an up-front basis by schools; signing and other one-time bonuses earned in the current contract year.
It does not include amounts that may have been earned as annual incentive bonuses in other years, the value of standard university benefits such as health care or the value of potentially taxable items such as cars; country club memberships; game tickets for the regular season, postseason and other sports; the value of stadium suites, travel upgrades or spouse/family travel and game tickets.
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TOTAL PAY:Sum of actual School Pay and athletically related compensation received from non-university sources. (An NCAA rule requires athletics department employees to annually disclose athletically related income from non-university sources if that total is more than $600.)
BONUSES PAID:Amount coach was paid from May 15, 2024 through May 14, 2025 for meeting personal or team-performance goals. Does not include longevity and/or retention payments. Includes payments due to head coaches, regardless of whether they distributed portions to other staff.
Because schools were informed that the intent is to report amounts paid for goals achieved during the 2024-25 football season and school year, some schools provided information about applicable payments that were made after May 14, 2025. Amounts presented only for head coaches who are at the same public school that employed them as the head coach last season.
BUYOUT OWED AS OF DEC. 1, 2025:Amount school would owe coach if it fired him without cause on Dec. 1, 2025.
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Many of these amounts are expressly subject to coach's duty to make good-faith efforts to find another job, with income from that employment offsetting the amount owed. If mitigation and offset are not addressed in contract, coach still may have obligation to make efforts in that regard. The amount listed may be owed to coach over an extended period of time, rather than as a lump sum at termination.
NOTES
PITTSBURGH, TEMPLE AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS:The pay information listed came from federal tax returns or the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law report. Documents provide compensation for 2023 calendar year based on all income paid by the school or support organizations, including benefits, perks and performance bonuses.
DELAWARE:In response to an open-records request, university said that, under state open-records law, only university records that relate to the expenditure of public funds are subject to the disclosure. Public funds, in the state, are defined as those derived from the state or any political subdivision of the state. The university said the athletic department's operating budget is not supported with public funds, so coach's contract is not subject to disclosure.
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NAVY:The academy's athletics department operates as a private, non-profit organization and maintains that it does not have to file the federal tax return required of other private non-profits because it is a federal governmental affiliate. It declined a request to provide compensation information for this contract year.
OHIO:University spokesman said on Sept. 30, 2025, that a term sheet from December 2024 remains the parties' most up-to-date document available. The term sheet says it is contingent on conditions including "the negotiation of a formal Employment Agreement." The term sheet also says that from Dec. 17, 2024, through Dec. 31, 2029, Brian Smith's compensation will have an average annual value of $850,000 via base salary, supplemental salary and/or retention bonus and that performance incentives "will be negotiated between the parties, the terms of which will be comparable with other Mid-American Conference institutions." The university provided a separate document saying that Smith's base salary, as of Dec. 17, 2024, was $615,000. The university declined to provide any additional information concerning Smith's compensation, bonuses or School Buyout for his current contract year.
AMOUNTS IN ADDITION TO COACHES' TOTAL PAY
Includes payments made by schools and/or their affiliated organizations on behalf of newly hired coaches who owed buyout amounts to their previous employer for terminating contracts so they could accept employment elsewhere; also includes portions of new and existing buyout-related loans from schools scheduled to be forgiven during the coach's current contract year:
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ARMY:Compensation amounts do not include the value of housing furnished by Army West Point Athletic Association that Jeff Monken is required to occupy as a condition of his employment.
BALL STATE:Paid $245,461 to Butler University to cover buyout Mike Uremovich owed that school. He agreed to repay a loan amount of $163,640.67, plus interest to Ball State in equal installments over a three-year period, and authorized the university to deduct these outstanding loan payments from his pay by payroll deduction each regular pay period. The remaining amount of $81,820.33 that Uremovich is not required to repay will be reported as taxable income. If contract is terminated by Uremovich without cause, or by the university for cause, any outstanding amount of the loan (including both principal and interest) shall become immediately due and payable. If Uremovich's employment is terminated for any other reason, any outstanding amount of the loan (including both principal and interest) will be reported as taxable compensation.
BOWLING GREEN:University was reponsible for paying Tennessee State University $390,000 in connection with buyout that Eddie George owed that school. However, George must reimburse Bowling Green for this payment through a reduction of his base salary on a straight-line basis ($6,842 per month) through the scheduled end of the contract term on Dec. 16, 2029. If the contract is terminated before that date, any unpaid reimbursement of the buyout will be immediately due and payable and offset from any sums owed by Bowling Green to George as a School Buyout As Of Dec. 1.
LOUISIANA STATE:Brian Kelly also is getting the value of a $780,000, interest-free mortgage loan the Tiger Athletic Foundation has provided in connection with Kelly's purchase of a residence in the Baton Rouge area. Foundation is entitled to repayment of original loan amount, plus 20% of the increased value of the home at sale.
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MARSHALL:Paid $25,000 to North Carolina State University to cover the buyout that Tony Gibson owed that school. Marshall also agreed to neutralize any potential tax implications associated with this payment.
NEW MEXICO:Paid $533,602 to the University of Idaho to cover the buyout Jason Eck owed that school. If this amount is determined to be taxable income to Eck, then New Mexico will pay Eck $950,000. If $950,000 does not fully neutralize the tax impact to Eck, the parties agree to meet in good faith to determine solution.
PURDUE:Paid $3,000,000 to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas to cover buyout that Barry Odom owed that school.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA:According to its federal tax records for the 2023-24 fiscal year, Lincoln Riley had the benefit of a $3,430,000 loan from the university that the records said was for housing. That amount was both the original loan amount and the balance due as of June 30, 2024.
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UTAH STATE:Paid $1,900,000 to University of New Mexico to cover buyout that Bronco Mendenhall owed that school. Utah State must make Mendenhall whole in the event he incurs any costs or expenses associated with such payment, including any income tax liability. If he incurs any additional costs or expenses associated with this payment, including but not limited to any additional income tax liability, Utah State agreed to provide him with a gross-up payment to make him whole, with such payment amount to be determined in good faith by school and Mendenhall's financial advisor and/or CPA, if applicable. This provision will survive the contract's termination.
WASHINGTON STATE:Paid Jimmy Rogers $671,222 to reimburse him for paying the buyout he owed South Dakota State for terminating his contract with that school. This amount was treated as taxable income to Rogers.
WEST VIRGINIA:Paid $1.25 million to Jacksonville State to cover buyout that Rich Rodriguez owed that school; West Virginia also agreed to cover any tax liabilities connected to that amount.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2025 NCAA football coach salaries methodology
