College football programs across the country are using private jets all the time. They are unavoidable at this point, needing to get to different places in a short period of time. Between recruiting, hiring new coaches, or even personal use, the money can begin to add up.
But which school was the biggest spender on private jets? Well, Front Office Sports has the answer for us.
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FOS sent out public record requests, getting responses from 50 schools. Some of the top ones are laid out below, beginning with a trio that spent over $1 million.
1. Alabama – $1,235,418
Taking up the No. 1 spot per FOS is the Alabama Crimson Tide. We saw Kalen DeBoer make the College Football Playoff for the first time in his career, winning 10 games during the regular season.
Apparently, the number of private jet trips was just as frequent. Alabama is the lone SEC team over the seven-figure mark.
2. Nebraska – $1,136,224
Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule (Imagn Images)
Runner-up hails in Lincoln, with Nebraska surpassing the $1 million mark. A big expense for the program, where there is always a lot of support for the Huskers.
Nebraska just made back-to-back bowl games for the first time in exactly a decade. Matt Rhule is now looking to take the next step and surpass the seven-win mark.
3. Michigan – $1,078,481
Michigan is the first school on the list to go through a coaching search this offseason. Sherrone Moore was fired due to off-field issues, leaving one of college football’s top jobs open.
Kyle Whittingham takes over after a great career in Salt Lake City. Based on 2025’s numbers, he will have quite a private jet budget to work with.
Texas A&M brings us below the $1 million mark, being about $75,000 short. FOS did have some more details on the Aggies using private jets in the report.
“During its 2025 fiscal year, members of the Aggies football program took 39 private jet trips,” FOS said. “Fifteen of those were explicitly filed under recruiting, medical purposes, or conferences like media days. The other 24 were all tagged as personal for head coach Mike Elko.”
5. Texas – $817,898
Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
One spot below their in-state rivals are the Texas Longhorns. Much of the use came from head coach Steve Sarkisian, being a part of the contract he signed.
Looking on the field, Texas fell just short of making the CFP due to a 9-3 record during the regular season. Hope for the 2026 campaign is only rising, with Sarkisian recently sitting down with On3’s Chris Low to explain why.
Illinois continues to impress under Bret Bielema. Back-to-back years of at least nine wins had never happened for the Illini until a Music City Bowl victory clinched the feat.
Resources continued to be poured into the program. Private jets are apparently one of them, coming in at No. 6 overall.
Back in the SEC, Kentucky is the final school from its conference to be in the top-10. Its private jets usage is about three times what the next SEC program procured for the 2025 season.
Kentucky also went through a coaching change, firing Mark Stoops. Will Stein takes over, where he spent some time with two jobs as the Oregon offensive coordinator.
Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
PJ Fleck has been at Minnesota since 2017 and brought plenty of highs to the Twin Cities. Right now, the Golden Gophers are on a five-year bowl run and have won at least eight games in four of those.
Everyone is hoping the success can continue moving forward. Traveling to see recruits and such is a big part of the operation everywhere, showing Minnesota is up there with other elite programs.
9. Iowa – $322,365
This is where the number gets cut by just under a half. Iowa checks in at No. 9, and FOS says the Hawkeyes spent over $322,000 on private jets.
Kirk Ferentz is the longest-tenured head coach in all of college football, having been at Iowa since 1999. Obviously, some nice perks come with the job.
10. Rutgers – $269,361
Closing out the top 10 is the sixth Big Ten team to appear thus far, Rutgers. They are well below others, even Iowa, which is just one slot ahead of them.
There is no information provided by FOS on what the private planes out of Piscataway were used for. Greg Schiano is quite established there, though, entering his seventh season in charge.
Top spenders on private jets during 2025 season: No. 11-24
11. Ole Miss – $201,639
12. Michigan State – $197,133
13. Arizona State – $173,323
14. UCLA – $160,965
15. NC State – $131,799
16. Kansas State – $113,040
17. Bowling Green – $99,134
18. Texas Tech – $91,076
19. Maryland – $83,959
20. Indiana – $42,200
21. ECU – $14,700
22. Houston – $11,720
23. Oregon State – $10,954
24. Wyoming – $3,285