College football's 10 highest-paid coaches after Bill Belichick hiring

Bill Belichick could cause a shift in the market for college football head coaches after his landmark hiring at North Carolina.

Bill Belichick hasn't coached a down in college football, but he's already reportedly one of the sport's highest-paid coaches. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Bill Belichick still hasn’t coached a down in college football, but he appears to already be one of the 10 highest-paid head coaches in the sport as we look ahead to the 2025 season.

Belichick, regarded as the greatest head coach in NFL history, was hired by North Carolina to lead its football program in a landmark move that could change the sport in fundamental ways.

While we don’t have official numbers on what UNC will pay Belichick to refashion the team in his image, the reported numbers already have him among the most well paid in the game.

But there’s a warning of sorts for North Carolina, as those big dollars don’t always translate into wins: of the 10 highest-paid coaches in the country, three are coaching teams at .500 or worse.

Here’s an updated look at college football’s 10 highest-paid head coaches as we near the end of the 2024 season, according to USA Today figures.

College football’s 10 highest-paid head coaches

10. Mark Stoops, Kentucky

What he’s paid: $9,013,600

Stoops has led the Wildcats to two of their 10-win seasons in football, but is still just 4 games above .500 in his tenure, one of the SEC’s longest.

Kentucky hasn’t won double-digit games in the last three seasons and is coming off its worst effort in the Stoops era at 4-8 overall with a 1-7 record in SEC competition in 2024.

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9. Brian Kelly, LSU

What he’s paid: $9,975,000

Wanting to stay a contender in the SEC and nationally, LSU brought in Kelly from Notre Dame with a huge offer worth more than $100 million in total money.

And while he won 10 games in each of his first seasons, Kelly stumbled to 8-4 this fall and just lost top overall recruit Bryce Underwood when the quarterback flipped to Michigan.

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T-6. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama

What he’s paid: $10 million

Maybe no single position comes with more pressure, as DeBoer succeeded 7-time national champion Nick Saban, regarded as the best coach in college football history.

There were certainly ups and downs in his first season, including losses to Vanderbilt and Tennessee, for the school’s first 3-loss regular season since 2010 and no playoff appearance.

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T-6. Mike Norvell, Florida State

What he’s paid: $10 million

Coming off that undefeated ACC championship season, Norvell inked a deal with the Seminoles for eight years, but the school might be regretting that payout after this past season.

Florida State had its worst outing in the last 50 years, finishing just 2-10, leaving some big questions as to whether Norvell can crawl out of that hole and justify that big contract.

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T-6. Bill Belichick, North Carolina

What he’s paid: $10 million

That’s according to current reports, anyway. While the school confirmed he’s signing a five-year contract, it didn’t reveal the official numbers regarding Belichick’s salary.

If those reports are right, the 6-time Super Bowl champion will make double what Mack Brown did last season, a big investment for a coach with the most proven track record you can have, but who’s about to undergo a big culture change.

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5. Ryan Day, Ohio State

What he’s paid: $10,021,250

Day and Ohio State agreed to a seven-year deal as a vote of confidence in the coach who has largely maintained the program’s standard, boasting a strong 66-10 overall record.

But his losses are telling: four of them are to Michigan, an unpardonable sin in Buckeye Country, and the other six are to top-five opponents in important games.

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4. Lincoln Riley, USC

What he’s paid: $10,043,418

Although it’s getting to the point where USC could be asking itself internally if Riley is worth all that money, given how he’s underperformed, sitting just 25-14 after three years.

A loss to Utah in the Pac-12 title game in Riley’s first season knocked his Trojans out of the College Football Playoff, revealing just how bad his defense was, and things haven’t improved, as Riley went just 6-6 in 2024.

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3. Steve Sarkisian, Texas

What he’s paid: $10,600,000

Conversely, the Longhorns are more than happy with the direction of their program under Sarkisian’s leadership, going to the College Football Playoff in two straight years.

And his team has fared remarkably well during his first year in the SEC, playing for the conference championship, and if he wins the national title, Sark is in for a $1.25 million bonus.

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2. Dabo Swinney, Clemson

What he’s paid: $11,132,775

Swinney signed a deal in 2022 that will keep him at Clemson through the 2031 season, a school where he’s won two College Football Playoff national championships.

The team has fallen short of that standard over the last few years, although it’s going back to the playoff after not qualifying since the 2020 season.

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1. Kirby Smart, Georgia

What he’s paid: $13,282,580

Georgia’s two-time national champion surpassed Swinney this year in the salary department after signing a two-year extension this spring that runs through 2033.

Smart is 105-18 in nine years at his alma mater and fresh off winning another SEC championship, is in position once again to make a run at the national title.

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