Bryan Harsin is in the second year of a six-year, $31.5 million deal at Auburn, and while the program is still waiting for its return on investment on the field, Harsin has cashed in as the nation’s 25th-highest paid college coach.

Harsin is earning $5.1 million in Year 2 on the Plains, placing him in the top-25 nationally among college coaches, according to USA Today’s annual database of coaching salaries. Harsin’s $5.1 million, in accordance with his contract, is $100,000 more than he earned in the first year of his deal after being hired away from his alma mater, Boise State.

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His salary for the 2022 season also puts him 10th among SEC coaches, behind Alabama’s Nick Saban ($10.957 million; first nationally), Georgia’s Kirby Smart ($10,253,600; third nationally), LSU’s Brian Kelly ($9.81 million; fourth nationally), Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher ($9 million; sixth nationally), Florida’s Billy Napier ($7.27 million; 11th nationally), Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin ($7.25 million; 12th nationally), Kentucky’s Mark Stoops ($6,763,600; 15th nationally), Arkansas’ Sam Pittman ($6 million; 17th nationally) and Mississippi State’s Mike Leach ($5.5 million; 21st nationally).

Harsin is a combined 2-6 against the SEC coaches earning more than him. He has yet to face Napier or Stoops, and the two wins came last season against Kiffin and Pittman, just prior to Auburn’s backslide in the final month of the season.

That downward trajectory for the Tigers under Harsin has carried over into this season. Auburn is just 3-3 at the halfway mark of its schedule, with a 1-2 record in SEC play. The team is 3-8 in its last 11 games, with just one Power 5 win during that span — an overtime escape against Missouri to open SEC play this season.

Those struggles have left Harsin with a 9-10 overall record as Auburn’s coach, including a 4-7 mark in SEC play and a 4-9 record against Power 5 competition. Harsin is one of only two coaches in the top-25 of annual salaries with an overall losing record at their current school, joining UCLA’s Chip Kelly, who is 24-25 with the Bruins but off to a 6-0 start this season.

Pressure has mounted on Harsin in the last month, as an offseason of mending fences following the university’s February inquiry into his handling of the program has eroded with the team’s on-field struggles, beginning with a blowout loss to Penn State in Week 3 — the Tigers’ worst home loss in a decade — and continuing last week with the team’s worst loss to rival Georgia since 2012.

Harsin is, undoubtedly, on the hotseat as Auburn prepares for the second half of its schedule, beginning with Saturday’s trip to Oxford, Miss., to take on No. 9 Ole Miss ahead of the bye week. Should Auburn part ways with the embattled coach, his buyout as of Dec. 1 would be $15,277,500 — which comes out to 70 percent of the remaining value on his contract.

That number would be slightly higher if Auburn were to make a coaching change before the end of the regular season.

Harsin’s buyout as of Dec. 1 ranks 30th nationally among college coaches, though it’s worth noting that not every program provided buyout numbers to USA Today. Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Arkansas were among the SEC programs to not include buyout terms in the data provided to USA Today. Without including Kiffin, Leach and Pittman — who all earn more than Harsin this season — Harsin’s buyout is the eighth highest among SEC coaches this year.

The league coaches with higher buyouts than Harsin as of Dec. 1 are Smart ($103,104,167), Fisher ($86.7 million), Kelly ($78,622,917), Saban ($43.2 million), Napier ($39,000,833), Stoops ($31,078,125) and Tennessee’s Josh Heupel ($25,833,333).

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.