Story byDaniel MaderFri, January 2, 2026 at 8:49 PM UTC·14 min readCollege football's 30 highest-paid coaches in 2025, from Lane Kiffin to Bill Belichick originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here. It pays well to be an elite college football head coach. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhile players are also now well-compensated in the NIL era, a strong program often starts and ends with the coach — which is why universities with strong financial muscle pay top-dollar to land the biggest-name coaches out there. A massive paycheck doesn't always guarantee good results, but it's certainly no coincidence that most of the highest-paid coaches have significant resumes. Here's a full list of the 30 highest-paid head coaches in college football in 2025, with most figures according to USA Today's salary database. MORE: The 11 most-expensive coach buyouts paid in college football historyAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement1. Kirby Smart, GeorgiaKirby SmartAverage salary: $13,282,580Kirby Smart, who has led Georgia since 2016, was rewarded in 2024 with a new 10-year, $130 million contract that made him college football's first-ever $13 million head coach on an annual basis.
