A day after earning a new contract extension that puts him in Tuscaloosa through the 2029 season, Alabama’s Nick Saban sits atop college football as the highest paid coach.
In a position that has become all too familiar for the seven-time national champion coach, Saban is slated to earn $10.695 million in the ’22 season. Even more, per ESPN’s Alex Scarborough, Saban’s new deal will come out to him averaging $11.7 million, which includes his base salary, talent fee and competition benefits. Prior to Tuesday’s new deal, Saban was slated to make $9.9 million this season.
With Saban sitting slightly above Georgia football coach Kirby Smart, who previously held the title as college's football highest paid coach, other coaches like Jackson State’s Deion Sanders praised Saban on his recent contract extension.
“Coach Saban is our magna cum laude [of coaching],” Sanders said of Saban during a SportsCenter segment Wednesday. “He is our guy. You would not have questioned Michael Jordan and you don't question LeBron [James] when they are given a contract of this status.
“Every opportunity I get to sit with him on this wonderful Aflac set, I'm gleaning from him just some of the fruit and nuggets he's able to spit to me. I’m happy. Well deserved. … I wish I wouldn’t catch anyone saying anything about the contract Saban has warranted. He is the G.O.A.T.”
Sanders, who is headed into his third season at Jackson State, teamed up for a second-round of Aflac commercials last month after Saban previously accused Sanders of paying a Jackson State player $1 million to attend the program in May. After Sanders called out Saban for his comments, Saban apologized and the two have “no beef” between them.
In addition to Saban’s figures within his new contract, Nick Kelly of The Tuscaloosa News reported that the extension includes language that requires Saban and his representatives to meet with Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne every February “to look at marketplace trends.” If they find that Saban’s guaranteed annual compensation is less than the average of the five highest-paid college football coaches or less than the three highest-compensated SEC coaches, Alabama will “increase his compensation to the higher of the two averages.”
Since joining Alabama prior to the ’07 season, Saban has recorded a 178-25 record with the Crimson Tide and led the program to six national championships. Saban will look to coach the Crimson Tide to another College Football Playoff national championship in the ’22 season after most recently losing to Georgia in the title game in January.
