NCAA D1 Football Coaching Contracts

In-depth Contract Analysis

Coach Contract Rankings

Full Rankings

  1. Nick Saban (Alabama)
  2. Brian Kelly (LSU)
  3. Ryan Day (Ohio State)
  4. Jimbo Fisher (Texas A&M)
  5. Dabo Swinney (Clemson)
  6. Mel Tucker (Michigan State)
  7. Dan Lanning (Oregon)
  8. Brent Venables (Oklahoma)
  9. Jim Harbaugh (Michigan)
  10. Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State)
  11. Chip Kelly (UCLA)
  12. Justin Wilcox (UC Berkeley)
  13. Mark Stoops (Kentucky)
  14. Geoff Collins (Georgia Tech)
  15. PJ Fleck (Minnesota)
  16. Dave Doeren (North Carolina State)
  17. Chris Klieman (Kansas State)
  18. Kirk Ferentz (Iowa)
  19. Scott Frost (Nebraska)
  20. Brent Pry (VA Tech)
  21. Jonathan Smith (Oregon State)
  22. Kyle Whittingham (Utah)
  23. Gregory Schiano (Rutgers)
  24. Karl Dorrell (Colorado)
  25. Paul Chryst (Wisconsin)
  26. Sam Pittman (Arkansas)
  27. Eliah Drinkwitz (Missouri)
  28. William Mack Brown (North Carolina)
  29. Steve Sarkisian (Texas)
  30. Herman Edwards (Arizona State)
  31. Dana Holgorsen (Houston)
  32. Joshua Heupel (Tennessee)
  33. Jeff Brohm (Purdue)
  34. Mike Norvell (Florida State)
  35. Bill Bradford Clark (UAB)
  36. Bret Bielema (Illinois)
  37. Tony Elliott (Virginia)
  38. Lance Leipold (Kansas)
  39. Matt Wells (Texas Tech)
  40. Neal Brown (West Virginia)
  41. Matt Campbell (Iowa State)
  42. Jedd Fisch (Arizona)
  43. Mike Bobo (Colorado State)
  44. Bryan Harsin (Auburn University)
  45. Tom Allen (Indiana)
  46. Mike Houston (East Carolina)
  47. Jeff Tedford
  48. Shane Beamer (South Carolina)
  49. Randy Edsall (Connecticut)
  50. Luke Fickell (Cincinnati)
  51. Craig Bohl (Wyoming)
  52. Michael Locksley (Maryland)
  53. Nick Rolovich (Washington State)
  54. Kalen DeBoer (Washington)
  55. Clay Helton (Georgia Southern)
  56. Gus Malzahn (Central Florida)
  57. Seth Littrell (North Texas)
  58. Brent Brennan (San Jose State)
  59. Jason Candle (Toledo)
  60. Marcus Arroyo (UNLV)
  61. Jeff Scott (South Florida)
  62. Brady Hoke (San Diego State)
  63. Blake Anderson (Utah State)
  64. Don Brown (Massachusetts)
  65. Tyson Helton (Western Kentucky)
  66. Andy Avalos (Boise State)
  67. Will Hall (Southern Mississippi)
  68. Jacob Spavital (Texas State)
  69. Dana Dimel (UTEP)
  70. Willie Taggart (Florida Atlantic)
  71. Ryan Silverfield (Memphis)
  72. Mike MacIntyre (Florida International)
  73. Jeff Traylor (Texas at San Antonio)
  74. Maurice Linguist (Buffalo)
  75. Timmy Chang (Hawaii)
  76. Mike Leach (Mississippi State)
  77. Thomas Hammock (Northern Illinois)
  78. Michael Desormeaux (Louisiana at Lafayette)
  79. Rick Stockstill (Middle Tennessee State)
  80. Doug Martin (New Mexico State)
  81. Jim McElwain (Central Michigan)
  82. Ricky Rahne (Old Dominion)
  83. Skip Holtz (Louisiana Tech)
  84. Tim Albin (Ohio)
  85. Scot Loeffler (Bowling Green State)
  86. Walt Bell (Massachusetts)
  87. Chuck Martin (Miami of Ohio)
  88. Chad Lunsford (Georgia Southern)
  89. Sean Lewis (Kent State)
  90. Danny Gonzales (New Mexico)
  91. Jay Norvell (Nevada)
  92. Shawn Elliott (Georgia State)
  93. Charles Huff (Marshall)
  94. Michael London (William and Mary)
  95. Tim Lester (Western Michigan)
  96. Chris Creighton (Eastern Michigan)
  97. Terry Bowden (Louisiana-Monroe)
  98. Lane Kiffin (Mississippi)
  99. Jason Eck (Idaho)
  100. Shawn Clark (Appalachian State)
  101. Joe Moorhead (Akron)
  102. Mike Neu (Ball State)
  103. Billy Napier (Florida)
  104. Will Healy (North Carolina Charlotte)
  105. Jim L Mora (Connecticut)

Rankings Methodology

These rankings reflect my subjective analysis of the best employment contracts for the coaches.  As an employment lawyer, I have had an opportunity to review hundreds, if not thousands, of employment contracts, in my career.  In this sense, I reviewed the contracts and attempted to determine the “best” contract.

Of course, this is subjective.  Does overall compensation matter?  Yes, very much so.  But it is not everything.  There are considerations that also go into a good contract, including perks, benefits, length of contract, golden parachute clause, and buy-out if the coach leaves.  In this sense, I reviewed the contract on seven factors:

  1. Length of Contract
  2. Overall Compensation/Year
  3. Bonus Opportunities
  4. Buy-Out Provision (that is, if the Coach resigns)
  5. Golden Parachute Provision (that is, the compensation to the Coach if the Coach is fired)
  6. Perks
  7. Duties of Coach for Academic Performance and Team Off-the-Field Issues

These rankings also reflect my subjective value to each category.  For examples, some may value overall compensation as the most important, whereas others may find the perks the most important factor.  Overall, the rankings reflect my subjective of the “best” contracts based on these various factors.  If you disagree, I would enjoy hearing why.

-Dan Kalish