After Clemson’s 2018 National Championship, Dabo Swinney was given the wealthiest coaching contract in College Football. Let’s take a look at how rich this contract made Swinney in the last year. It should provide an idea about the value these universities put on successful head football coaches.
Dabo Swinney’s 2019-2020 Contract
Total Guaranteed Compensation
Swinney’s guaranteed salary happens to be separated into three sections: base, supplemental, and licensing. This base salary will be given to him every year, regardless of whether he performs his coaching duties.
His supplemental compensation covers what he gets paid for performing coaching duties, such as TV appearances, radio appearances, press conferences, etc. In other words, everything you’d become familiar with a coach doing is covered by this compensation.
The licensing fee is what differs Swinney’s contract from most others. It covers what he gets paid for his name, likeness, select trademarks, and similar IP. As a result, his earnings end up soaring past what most people expect for a top-tier College Football coach.
- Base Salary: $245,000
- Supplemental Compensation: $5,505,000
- Licensing Fee: $2,500,000
Overall, Swinney earned a whopping $8,250,000 in guaranteed salary during the 2019-2020 College Football season. This figure doesn’t even include the various incentives laid out within the contract, either, which we’ll discuss in these next sections.
Additional Income
An interesting part of Swinney’s contract is the lack of regular season incentives. For instance, most coaches will receive a bonus for reaching a certain number of wins without any accompanying bowl game requirement. But Clemson doesn’t seem concerned with regular-season success and only rewards him for postseason achievements.
Swinney can also earn bonuses for winning individual coaching awards or his team meeting specific academic standards. If he hits most of these, it’s a nice amount of money being added to his already outrageous guaranteed salary.
Postseason Incentives
- Plays in Conference Championship Game: $50,000
- Wins Conference Championship Game: $150,000
He can earn one of the following incentives, as well:
- Plays in a New Year’s Six College Football Playoff Game: $100,000
- Appears in the College Football Semi-final: $200,000 (another $200,000 for appealing in the Championship Game plus $250,000 for winning it)
- Wins eight or more regular-season games and plays in a bowl game not mentioned in the other two options above.
In 2019-2020, Clemson would win their Conference Championship game and lose the College Football Championship Game to Ed Orgeron’s LSU Tigers. These achievements would give Swinney an additional $600,000 in postseason incentives.
Coaching Recognition Incentives
- Named Conference Head Football Coach of the Year by the Conference Sports Media Association: $25,000
- Wins a National Coach of the Year Award provided by a National Recognized Entity (AP, AFCA, Bobby Bowden, Bob Doyle, Bear Bryant, CBS Sports, Home Depot, Maxwell, Sports Illustrated, Sporting News, or Walter Camp: $50,000 for each award ($150,000 maximum)
Swinney didn’t manage to win any of these awards in the 2019-2020 College Football Season. Most of them went to Ed Orgeron who’s team bested him in the National Championship Game. It’s fair to say Orgeron made Swinney’s life a nightmare over this last year.
Academic Incentives
- Team’s APR score is equal or greater than 950, but less than 975: $75,000
- Team’s APR score is equal or greater than 975: $100,000
Clemson’s roster managed an impressive 993 APR score over the last season. Due to this, Swinney earned an additional $100,000. It’s a nice payday for something that has very little to do with his performance as a College Football coach.
Total 2019-2020 Earnings
Coach Dabo Swinney ended up making an impressive $8,950,000 during 2019-2020. This amount is a nice chunk of change, but it could’ve been much more with a National Championship win. He stands to earn even more in these next few years because of how his contract increases over its duration. Let’s take a quick peek into what he can expect in the upcoming years.
Upcoming Changes in the Contract
Swinney has one notable change in his contract coming up in the next couple of years. It concerns his supplement compensation, which will start increasing almost every year:
- 2020 – 2021: $5,505,000
- 2021 – 2022: $5,755,000
- 2022 – 2023: $5,755,000
- 2023 – 2024: $6,005,000
- 2024 – 2025: $6,255,000
- 2025 – 2026: $6,505,000
- 2026 – 2027: $6,755,000
- 2027 – 2028: $7,255,000
- 2028 – 2029: $7,255,000
These increases ensure his yearly earnings will start dwarfing what he made during 2019-2020. In any case, you can see why Swinney would want to continue his coaching career at Clemson, given these impressive numbers.