Missouri’s Gary Pinkel is the latest SEC coach to make at least $4 million a year. (AP photo)
Ten.
Count them.
Ten of the SEC’s football coaches are making at least $4 million a year.
Missouri’s Gary Pinkel became the latest SEC coach to join the $4 million club when he signed an extension that boosted his salary to $4.02 million this fall.
USA Today reported in February that coaching salaries have doubled since 2006, with Alabama’s Nick Saban leading the way at $7.1 million a year. The paper reported that 11 coaches in the country made $4 million last season.
Here are the salaries of the SEC’s coaches:
- Nick Saban, Alabama, $7.16 million
- Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M, $5 million
- Les Miles, LSU, $4.37 million
- Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss, $4.3 million
- Gus Malzahn, Auburn, $4.1 million
- Gary Pinkel, Missouri, $4.02 million
- Steve Spurrier, South Carolina, $4.02 million
- Mark Richt, Georgia, $4 million
- Bret Bielema, Arkansas, $4 million
- Dan Mullen, Mississippi State, $4 million
Pinkel, who was making $3.2 million a year, might have been the biggest bargain in the SEC, coming off consecutive SEC East titles.
Butch Jones (Tennessee), Derek Mason (Vanderbilt), Jim McElwain (Florida) and Mike Stoops (Kentucky) are the only SEC coaches who don't make at least $4 million a year.
So, are coaches worth all the millions they’re now being paid? Is this the price of business in college football, especially the SEC, these days?
What do you think?
