College Football Buyouts: 5 Head Coaches Whose Contracts Could Complicate a Firing

While many fans are unhappy there are tens of millions of reasons not to depart from some high-paid coaches.

A massive buyout might keep Dabo Swinney in place at Clemson. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Across the college football landscape, for every happy fan, there's an angry fan. Many of those angry fans want to sever relationships with overpaid, underachieving coaches. But in the words of legendary college football analyst Lee Corso, not so fast. With coaching buyouts in the eight figure realm, some coaches are simply too costly to move on from. Here are five head coaches whose buyouts could provide some last-minute job security.

Dabo Swinney, Clemson

As of last December, USAToday reported Dabo's buyout at $60 million. Swinney is 11-8 over the last season and a half and Clemson feels far gone from his dominant run in the late 2010s. But with the double cost hammer of paying Swinney's buyout and bringing in another high-priced coach, Clemson is stuck with Dabo until it simply has no other option than to take a massive financial hit.

Steve Sarkisian, Texas

Yes, Texas's comeback win over Ole Miss cooled this particular fire-- at least for the moment. But a Texas team with losses to Oklahoma and Florida is still one bad game away from likely being out of the College Football Playoff hunt. WIth the Horns now facing two decades without a title, Sarkisian isn't exceptionally popular. But with a buyout reported at just over $60 million, moving on may not be in Texas's best interests.

Deion Sanders, Colorado

A hefty buyout could keep Coach Prime in Colorado for the near future. (Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images) | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Coach Prime era is not wearing well at Colorado. Since the Travis Hunter/Shedeur Sanders team, Deion is 5-14 and Colorado football seems to be headed nowhere. As of late last year, Deion's buyout was reported at over $33 million. For a Colorado program that's not getting the influx of Big Ten or SEC money, that's a big sum to bite off.

Mike Norvell, Florida State

Since a 2023 season where Norvell just missed the four-team playoff with the Seminoles, his team has been a train wreck. He's 10-21 since then and Florida State has had to stand by and watch Miami become nationally competitive and Florida emerge as a rising team to watch. So why is Norvell still there? Well, as of late 2025, his buyout was reportedly around $58 million.

Matt Rhule, Nebraska

With the Huskers at 5-2, this particular seat has cooled a bit. But Rhule is 24-21 at Nebraska, and it's not hard to imagine a world in which the administration decides to go in a different direction. But their biggest stumbling block? A buyout reported at just under $50 million late last year.