{"id":209734,"date":"2025-10-08T18:45:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T18:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/209734\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T18:45:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T18:45:11","slug":"2025-sec-football-coaches-salaries-highest-to-lowest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/209734\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 SEC football coaches salaries highest to lowest"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEC football is essential, and the 16 coaches in charge of the conference’s programs spent a majority of their time trying to win in the deepest, most talented conference in college football.<\/p>\n

Their time and effort are richly rewarded with some of the highest salaries in the sport, led by Georgia’s Kirby Smart, who leads all of college football coaches with a salary that pays him more than $13 million annually.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, USA TODAY Sports released its annual list of coach salaries<\/a>. Here is where everyone, from Smart to Hugh Freeze to Clark Lea, ranks. <\/p>\n

1. Kirby Smart (Georgia)\"Kirby<\/p>\n

Sep 27, 2025; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart reacts in the first half against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Total Salary: $13,282,580<\/p>\n

National Rank: 1st<\/p>\n

Overall Record (at school): 109-20<\/p>\n

2. Steve Sarkisian (Texas)<\/p>\n

Total Salary: $10,800,000<\/p>\n

National Rank: 5th<\/p>\n

Overall Record: 41-19<\/p>\n

3. Kalen DeBoer (Alabama)<\/p>\n

Total Salary: $10,250,000<\/p>\n

National Rank: 7th<\/p>\n

Overall Record: 13-25<\/p>\n

4. Brian Kelly (LSU)\"Brian<\/p>\n

Sep 6, 2025; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly looks on against Louisiana Tech Bulldogs during the second half at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Total Salary: $10,175,000<\/p>\n

National Rank: 8th<\/p>\n

Overall Record: 33-12<\/p>\n

5. Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss)<\/p>\n

Total Salary: $9,000,000<\/p>\n

National Rank: 10th<\/p>\n

Overall Record: 49-18<\/p>\n

6. Eli Drinkwitz (Missouri)<\/p>\n

Total Salary: $9,000,000<\/p>\n

National Rank: 11th<\/p>\n

Overall Record: 43-24<\/p>\n

7. Josh Heupel (Tennessee)\"Josh<\/p>\n

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel during a NCAA football game between Tennessee and UAB at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., September 20, 2025. | Angelina Alcantar\/News Sentinel \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Total Salary: $9,000,000<\/p>\n

National Rank: 12th<\/p>\n

Overall Record: 41-16<\/p>\n

8. Mark Stoops (Kentucky)<\/p>\n

Total Salary: $9,000,000<\/p>\n

National Rank: 13th<\/p>\n

Overall Record: 69-76<\/p>\n

9. Shane Beamer (South Carolina)<\/p>\n

Total Salary: $8,150,000<\/p>\n

National Rank: 20th<\/p>\n

Overall Record: 32-24<\/p>\n

10. Brent Venables (Oklahoma)<\/p>\n

Total Salary: $7,552,750<\/p>\n

National Rank: 23rd<\/p>\n

Overall Record: 27-17<\/p>\n

11. Billy Napier (Florida)\"Billy<\/p>\n

Oct 4, 2025; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier gestures before a game against the Texas Longhorns at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Total Salary: $7,470,000<\/p>\n

National Rank: 24th<\/p>\n

Overall Record: 21-22<\/p>\n

12. Mike Elko (Texas A&M)<\/p>\n

Total Salary: $7,000,000<\/p>\n

National Rank: 32nd<\/p>\n

Overall Record: 13-25<\/p>\n

13. Sam Pittman (Arkansas)<\/p>\n

Total Salary: $6,814,600<\/p>\n

National Rank: 35th<\/p>\n

Overall Record: 32-34 (Fired after Week 5)<\/p>\n

14. Hugh Freeze (Auburn)\"Hugh<\/p>\n

Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze walks off the field after the game as Auburn Tigers take on Ball State Cardinals at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. Auburn Tigers defeated Ball State Cardinals 42-3. | Jake Crandall\/ Advertiser \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Total Salary: $6,734,500<\/a><\/p>\n

National Rank: 36th<\/p>\n

Overall Record: 14-16<\/p>\n

15. Jeff Lebby (Mississippi State)<\/p>\n

Total Salary: $4,350,000<\/p>\n

National Rank: 55th<\/p>\n

Overall Record: 6-12<\/p>\n

16. Clark Lea (Vanderbilt)<\/p>\n

Total Salary: $3,711,137<\/p>\n

National Rank: 57th<\/p>\n

Overall Record: 21-34<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEC football is essential, and the 16 coaches in charge of the conference’s programs spent a majority of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209735,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-209734","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}