SEC experts: Kirby Smart due raise, should top coaches’ pay scale

ATHENS — Kirby Smart could be in line for a raise this spring if recent contract history is an indicator, and two SEC experts explained why it would be justifiable.

“I was looking at how much money has been wasted in SEC (football) head coach buyouts,” said SEC Network host Peter Burns, who’s in his 11th year anchoring league games and news. “It (buyout money) would fuel third-world economies — and we’re just talking about Auburn.”

Auburn has been on the hook for $52.15 million worth of head coaching buyouts since 2020, accounting for the firings of Gus Malzahn ($21.45 million buyout), Bryan Harsin ($15.3 million) and Hugh Freeze ($15.4 million)

“The fact that Josh Brooks and Georgia fans are in such a good spot right now that you have a guy that wins a whole hell of a lot, that played (for) and loves Georgia and has no real NFL aspirations,” Burns said. “Like, that’s worth $25 million a year right now.”

Smart, 50, received raises in 2022 and 2024, a cycle that could portend another salary increase this spring.

Smart recently became one of only four coaches in history to win back-to-back SEC championships in 2025 — Saban, Steve Spurrier and Phillip Fulmer are the others — as Georgia defeated Alabama 28-7 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Dec. 6.

Smart is the only active coach to have won an SEC championship game, and he and Clemson coach Dabo Sweeney share the distinction of being the only active two-time national championship coaches.

The five coaching firings in the SEC totaled more than $136 million in buyouts, with an average of about $27.3 million per school

While Burns’ suggested raise amount for Smart smacks of hyperbole, his point of contention is accurate after five SEC coaches were fired last season, and another — Lane Kiffin — left Ole Miss to take the LSU head coaching job.

Kiffin’s hire was among the more controversial of the offseason changes. The coaching move came with Ole Miss entering the College Football Playoff and led to Pete Golding taking over as interim coach and leading the Rebels to the CFP Semifinals, where they lost to Miami, 31-27, in the Fiesta Bowl.

“I talked to some mentors — Coach (Pete) Carroll, Coach Saban," Kiffin told ESPN at the time. “I talked to God, and he told me it’s time to take a new step.”

Smart’s message at the time of his most recent extension was of a humble nature, as he cited “an immense pride for representing my alma mater,” adding that he looked forward “to that relationship continuing for many years.”

Smart is the longest-tenured coach in the SEC, as he will enter his 11th season leading Georgia this fall.

Smart’s current salary is a little over $13 million, per information obtained through The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s open records request.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti agreed to a contract extension in February that will pay him an average of $13.2 million through the 2033.

Kiffin agreed to a seven-year, $91 million contract that’s worth $13 million per year before incentives, including a clause that stipulates a raise to make him the highest-paid coach in the country if he wins a national championship.

LSU has to pay former coach Brian Kelly a $54 million buyout over the next six years after firing him “without cause,” so long as Kelly makes a “good-faith, reasonable and sustained” attempt at finding another job, per Yahoo.com.

Smart’s most recent contract extension came on May 2, 2024, when he signed his current deal for 10 years and $130 million to become the highest paid coach in college football.

Smart’s previous contract, signed in July of 2022, was for 10 years and $112.5 million, which made him the highest-paid coach in the country at that time.

Trey Wallace, in his fifth year covering national and SEC football for OutKick.com, said Smart should continue to be the clear leader in pay among college coaches.

“Curt Cignetti earned his (raise), I think Kirby Smart has already earned his,” Wallace said. “In my opinion. Kirby should be the highest paid coach in college football.

“There has never really been a big drop-off with Georgia, and I can’t say that for everyone else,” Wallace said. “I look what Kirby has coming back, and I look what they did in the transfer portal …. They are setting themselves up for 2026.

“It’s not like he’s going anywhere, but at the same time you pay the guy that’s won you national championships.”

Burns agreed.

“As long as Kirby Smart is alive and kicking and coaching, I think they’ll be a College Football Playoff contender,” Burns said. “And there’s not a lot of programs that can think of things that way.”

SEC football coaches’ buyouts

• LSU to Brian Kelly, $54 million

• Kentucky to Mark Stoops, $37.7 million