Penn State made history on Sunday when it firedJames Franklin after 12 seasons. The Nittany Lions are on the hook for nearly $50 million as part of Franklin’s buyout, making it the second-highest payout in college football history.
Franklin might not be the only head coach to join the list of the highest buyouts in college football history in the 2025 coaching carousel. Florida State’s Mike Norvell ($54.4 million), Florida’s Billy Napier ($20.4 million) and Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell (over $25 million) are all feeling pressure.
With so much turnover expected in college football in the upcoming months, On3 is breaking down the highest head coaching buyouts in college football history, with James Franklin making his debut. Here’s the top 10 buyouts:
1. Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M
Buyout: $76.8 million
The Aggies fired Jimbo Fisher on Nov. 12, 2023, resetting the landscape of head coaching buyouts in college football. The move cost Texas A&M nearly $77 million. The Aggies owed Fisher $19.2 million within 60 days and will continue to pay him $7.2 million annually through 2031. The contract did not include offset or mitigation on the payments. Fisher was 45-25 in six seasons at Texas A&M. The former Florida State head coach signed a new 10-year contract with $95 million guaranteed in 2021. The contract was partially driven by the threat of Fisher’s departure to LSU. Since the Orange Bowl win in 2020, Texas A&M went 19-15. Fisher never won the SEC West or made the College Football Playoff.
2. James Franklin, Penn State
Buyout: $48.6 million
Penn State fired head coach James Franklin on Sunday after 12 seasons. The Nittany Lions owe Franklin nearly $49 million, according to his contract. It is the second-largest buyout in college football history, trailing only Jimbo Fisher’s nearly $77 million buyout from Texas A&M. The move to fire Franklin comes less than a year removed from a College Football Playoff semifinal appearance. But three consecutive losses, including UCLA and Northwestern in back-to-back weeks, ended Franklin’s time in Happy Valley. Penn State has yet to beat a Power Four opponent this season.
3. Gus Malzahn, Auburn
Buyout: $21.45 million
Auburn fired head coach Gus Malzahn in December 2020, less than 24 hours after the Tigers closed out a 6-4 regular season. Malzahn closed out his time on The Plains with a 68-34. The Auburn head coach was owed nearly $21.5 million, with more than $10 million — 50% — due in the first 30 days. Under Malzahn, Auburn reached the BCS national title game in 2013. He inked a seven-year deal worth $49 million in December 2017, but the Tigers finished fifth and third in the SEC West in the following years.
4. Charlie Weis, Notre Dame
Buyout: $19 million
Notre Dame paid Charlie Weis nearly $19 million in a contract buyout from the time he was fired in 2009 until payments ended in 2015, the Indianapolis Star reported in 2017, according to the school’s federal tax returns. After an initial $6.6 million allotment, Weis earned $2.05 million annually from Notre Dame until 2016. Notre Dame fired Weis following the 2009 season after five seasons and a 35–27 record.
5. Willie Taggart, Florida State
Buyout: $18 million
Florida State fired Willie Taggart in November 2019, closing out his time in Tallahassee after just 21 games. In his first season with the Seminoles in 2018, FSU failed to make a bowl game for the first time since 1981. To make the move to fire Taggart, the Seminoles raised roughly $20 million in private donations to buy out the contract, ESPN reported at the time.
6. Ed Orgeron, LSU
Buyout: $16.9 million
Ed Orgeron and LSU announced in October 2021 that he would step aside following the season. As part of the agreement, LSU was set to pay Orgeron the remaining $16.95 million on his deal. The move was made only two years after the Tigers went 15-0 and won a national championship behind Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow. The Tigers won 12 games by 10 or more points on their march to a national title. Orgeron finished 51–20 in six seasons in Baton Rouge.
7. Tom Allen, Indiana
Buyout: $15.5 million
Indiana fired Tom Allen in November 2023 following the Hoosiers’ third consecutive losing season. Allen finished 33-49 as the Indiana head coach. After the breakout 6-2 season in 2020, which was shortened because of COVID, the Hoosiers went 9-26 overall and 3-24 in Big Ten play. In March 2021, Allen inked a seven-year contract that brought his salary to $4.9 million annually and a $20.8 million buyout. When Indiana parted ways with Allen, the school announced it had agreed to a $15.5 million buyout paid over two installments.
8. Tom Herman, Texas
Buyout: $15.4 million
Texas parted ways with Tom Herman in January 2021 after four seasons. Later that day, the Longhorns announced the hiring of Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian as their next head coach. Herman went 32-18 at Texas, leading the Longhorns to a Big 12 title game and 10 wins in 2018 with a win in the Sugar Bowl. But after the 10-win mark, the Longhorns went 8-5 and 7-3 and lost back-to-back years to Oklahoma.
9. Bryan Harsin, Auburn
Buyout: $15.3 million
Auburn fired Bryan Harsin in October 2022 after less than two seasons. Harsin’s tenure at Auburn ends with a 9-12 record. Per terms of his contract, Harsin was owed $15.5 million in buyout money, with 50% due within 30 days and the remaining half in four installments. Two years before the decision to fire Harsin, Auburn decided to pay a $21.7 million buyout to fire Gus Malzahn.
10. Art Briles, Baylor
Buyout: $15.1 million
Baylor suspended head coach Art Briles with intent to terminate in May 2016, in response to a review of its handling of sexual assault allegations made against students, including several football players. Briles had eight years remaining on a 10-year contract extension that he had signed in November 2013. Federal tax returns showed in 2018 that Baylor paid Briles $15.1 million after he was forced out. He received less than half of the $39 million he was owed under the terms of his contract.