2025 NCAA Coaches Pay and Buyouts Revealed

USA TODAY's 2025 compensation survey ranks college-football head coaches and reports scheduled base pay (excluding bonuses), potential bonuses and hypothetical buyouts calculated to a uniform separation date of Dec. 1, 2025. Top figures include Illinois' Bret Bielema (No. 17) at $8,400,000 and Indiana's Curt Cignetti (No. 19) at $8,300,000; other noted salaries include Florida's Billy Napier ($7,470,000), Utah's Kyle Whittingham ($6,925,000), NC State's Dave Doeren ($6,215,377), Texas Tech's Joey McGuire ($4,554,960), Houston's Willie Fritz ($4,500,000), UCF's Scott Frost ($3,858,333), Vanderbilt's Clark Lea ($3,711,137) and West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez ($3,600,000). The survey highlights large buyouts — Cignetti's about $56.7 million and Bielema's about $49.49 million — and lists other significant termination costs such as Napier ($20.428M), Doeren ($13.129M), Frost ($13.794M), McGuire ($9.941M), Whittingham ($8.333M) and Rodriguez ($7.646M). USA TODAY notes many buyouts include offsets for new employment or phased payments and that reported pay can rise with performance bonuses or later contract amendments. Some figures for private schools were drawn from 2023 financial records, and key data gaps remain for several programs, notably BYU and other conference members.