Swinney out of top-5 highest-paid coaches now |
This time last year, Clemson coach
Dabo Swinney vaulted to the No. 2 highest-paid coach per USA TDOAY's salary database
with a big new contract signed in August 2017.
The rest of the top-tier in college football has caught up in the last year, however. USA TODAY's 2018 database has Swinney at seventh in total pay ($6.54 million) behind Alabama's Nick Saban ($8.31M), Ohio State's Urban Meyer ($7.60M), Michigan's Jim Harbaugh ($7.504M), Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher ($7.50M), Auburn's Gus Malzahn ($6.71M) and Georgia's Kirby Smart ($6.60M). The longtime Tigers' coach is now far-and-away the leader in the ACC, ahead of FSU's Willie Taggart ($5M). Swinney has a max bonus of $1.125 million and received $500,000 in bonuses for 2017-18. Swinney's buyout is still among the highest in college football, ranking third ($35M) behind Fisher ($68M) and Meyer ($38M). Top-10 salaries in CFB for 2018 (USA TODAY) 1. Alabama's Nick Saban ($8.31M) 2. Ohio State's Urban Meyer ($7.60M) 3. Michigan's Jim Harbaugh ($7.504M) 4. Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher ($7.50M) 5. Auburn's Gus Malzahn ($6.71M) 6. Georgia's Kirby Smart ($6.60M) 7. Clemson's Dabo Swinney ($6.54M) 8. Florida's Dan Mullen ($6.07M) 9. Texas' Tom Herman ($5.5M) T-10. Nebraska's Scott Frost ($5M) T-10. Florida State's Willie Taggart ($5M) T-10. Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy ($5M) T-10. Illinois' Lovie Smith ($5M)
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