Kirby Smart, Jim Harbaugh earn big bonuses; A look at high-profile coaches, including Nick Saban
Not only did Georgia coach Kirby Smart earn his second straight College Football Playoff national championship, he pocketed $1.35 million.
Smart is just one of a number of college football head coaches at Bowl Subdivision public schools to hit benchmarks in their contracts this season. According to a report by USA TODAY, those benchmarks are worth a total of just more than $12.2 million in bonuses.
The number was nearly $13.6 million a year. The slight decrease is a result of a private school advancing to the CFP, and TCU coach Sonny Dykes’ bonus is not publicly available.
Smart’s bonus breaks down as follows:
- $50,000: Sixth win, eligible for non-CFP bowl game
- $25,000: 8-0 record assures that team will be playing in one of SEC’s top seven non-CFP bowl games
- $100,000: Win at least share of SEC division title, will play in conference title game
- $100,000: 12-0 record assures that team will be playing in one of six games affiliated with the College Football Playoff
- $200,000: Win SEC title game
- $325,000: Play in CFP semifinal
- $50,000: SEC coach of the year (coaches’ vote)
- $250,000: Win CFP semifinal
- $250,000: Win CFP title game
Alabama’s Nick Saban earned $200,000.
It breaks down like this:
- $65,000: Sixth win, eligible for bowl game not among the six connected to the College Football Playoff
- $25,000: 8-2 record (5-2 in conference play) assures that team will be playing in one of SEC’s Pool of Six bowl games
- $110,000: Play in CFP non-semifinal game
In addition to Smart’s $1.35 million, here are some other notables:
- Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh: $2.05 million.
- LSU’s Brian Kelly: $575,000.
- Clemson’s Dabo Swinney: $400,000.
You check out the full list of coaches and schools here.
Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.