Alabama head coach Nick Saban is back on top and is once again the highest-paid football coach at a public university.
Alabama’s board of trustees endorsed a one-year contract extension and a boost in pay for Saban, who has been with the program since 2007, during a meeting on Tuesday. The modified deal extends through February 2030 and will pay him an average of $11.7 million per year.
The raise edges Saban’s annual salary past that of Georgia coach and his former assistant Kirby Smart, who inked a new contract last month, that will grant him an average of $11.2 million over 10 years.
Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne also got an extension and raise on Tuesday. Byrne’s revised contract is in effect through June 2029 and pays him an average of $1.7 million per year.
Saban, whose seven national titles are the most in college football history, would be 78-years-of-age at the conclusion of his updated contract.
The 70-year-old is coming off a year in which he captured his 10th SEC title and made an appearance in the national championship game, falling to the University of Georgia.
Saban’s deal includes a provision in which he and the university can negotiate annually “marketplace trends regarding head football coach compensation.”
If Saban’s total guaranteed money is less than the average of the top three highest-paid coaches in the SEC or less than the average of the five highest-paid coaches in the country, the university consents to pay Saban the higher of the two averages.
Also, a part of the deal are postseason incentives: $75,000 for appearing in the SEC championship game or $125,000 for winning it; $200,000 for appearing in a New Year’s Six bowl game; $400,000 for appearing in a national championship semifinal game; $600,000 for appearing in a national championship game or $800,000 for winning it.
Alabama was selected as the preseason favorite to be victorious in the SEC again this season. The Crimson Tide return Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Bryce Young.
Alabama begins the season on September 3 at home against Utah State.
