How Much Should a Football Coach Earn?

Alabama's Nick Saban: $7.3 million a year.

It is looking like Mississippi, which ranks 46th in the USofA in per student expenditure, is going to have to pony up about $8 million a year for the next few years in order to keep the football coaches at its two big universities, the University of Mississippi and Mississippi State.

Both programs have had good years and the Mississippi overseers want to keep the coaches--which are hot commodities in the football world right now. They'll have to compete with huge offers from outside.

Even the $8 million would keep Mississippi behind its neighbors Alabama (more than $10 million a year for coaches at UA and Auburn with UA's Nick Saban topping all of the nation's coaches at $7.3 million). Florida, which pays an ungodly amount for coaches at the University of Florida--which has a vacancy, but will top $4 million for a new coach--Florida State and Miami, is 38th in per-student expenditure.

(By contrast, the President of the United States earns a base salary of $400,000, which has not been increased since 1991. The president is paid a $50,000 annual expense account, $100,000 nontaxable travel account and $19,000 for entertainment. 'Course, when it was pointed out in 1928 to Babe Ruth that he made more money than the president--a lot more--he said, "I had a better year." Saban might say the same.)

The Southeastern Conference, where most agree the best football teams in the U.S. reside, has nine teams (of its 14) ranking from 30 to 46, but its individual head coaching salaries range from right at $7 million a year to $2.2 million on the bottom, not including Vanderbilt, which is private and keeps its coach's salary that way (the best guess is 2.25 million according to here).