NIL
Highest Paid College Football Coaches After Lane Kiffin’s New LSU Contract
Former Ole Miss Rebels coach Lane Kiffin has stolen headlines across the country after recently accepting the LSU Tigers head position. This was before even his group out in Oxford with an 11-1 record even heard what seed they would receive in the College Football Playoff. Kiffin will not coach the team in the postseason, but instead prepare for the future in Baton Rouge.
Where does Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning rank alongside Kiffin, the rest of the SEC, the Big Ten Conference, and one name in the Atlantic Coast Conference? Here are the Top 10 highest-paid active head coaches in the sport of college football by annual salary.
No. 1 – Georgia Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart ($13.28 million)
No. 2 – LSU Tigers coach Lane Kiffin ($13 million)
No. 3 – Ohio State Buckeyes coach Ryan Day ($12.58 million)
No. 4 – Indiana Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti ($11.6 million)
No. 5 – USC Trojans coach Lincoln Riley ($11.54 million)
No. 6 – Clemson Tigers coach Dabo Swinney ($11.45 million)
No. 7 – Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian ($10.8 million)
No. 8 – Missouri Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz ($10.75 million)
No. 9 – Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning ($10.6 million)
No. 10 – Alabama Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer ($10.25 million)
The SEC leads the way with five coaches on this list, the Big Ten trailing right behind at four, and the ACC with just one.
Being now known as the ‘villain’ of college football, 50-year-old Kiffin is embarking on his fifth collegiate head-coaching job. He started with the Tennessee Volunteers in 2009, USC from 2010-13, Florida Atlantic Owls from 2017-19, and Ole Miss from 2020-25.
Kiffin signed a seven-year contract with LSU worth $91 million. The deal includes an escalator that would make him the highest-paid coach if he wins a national championship and a clause where the Tigers’ athletic department will pay Kiffin bonuses he would have earned from the Rebels’ playoff appearance. The contract also includes an 80 percent buyout if he is fired without cause.
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Oregon’s Dan Lanning Commitment To Ducks
As for Lanning, Oregon is his first job at the top of the helm. He has made an immediate splash over the last four seasons from 2022-25. The only 39-year-old has never had fewer than 10 wins and currently has an overall record of 46-7 (the exact same record that Chip Kelly had in his first four seasons with the Ducks).
With his fourth straight 10-win season in 2025, Lanning received a contract incentive through the university’s athletic department that pushes his deal through the 2031 season.
After winning the 2024 Big Ten championship and receiving a first-round bye in last season’s College Football Playoff, Lanning dreams much bigger of making a national powerhouse in Eugene. The program is still aiming for the school’s first national title.
In an exclusive interview with Oregon Ducks on SI reporter Bri Amaranthus, Lanning opened up about his commitment to Oregon and he didn’t shy away from addressing speculation.
“I’m not going anywhere. So I don’t spend a lot of time on ‘what ifs.’ I think it speaks to what we’ve done here as a program and what we’ve been able to build,” Lanning told Amaranthus before the 2025 season. “It’s a really special place. But to know that I’m really comfortable exactly where I’m at and where we’re going to be, is just as important to me.”
“(Oregon) made a commitment to me. They gave me an opportunity here that no one else gave me that opportunity. They gave me a chance to be the head coach here, and that’s something I want to see through,” Lanning continued.
No. 6 Oregon (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten) unofficially secured a spot in the upcoming postseason and now awaits to hear its name officially called at the selection show on Sunday, Dec. 7, at 9 a.m. ET on ESPN.