The annual expose' of the largesse of schools for their football coaches! Not shocking that Urban and Nick are amongst the highest paid, they've delivered on the field, they've earned it. As a ND fan I continue to be shocked at Kelly's salary, now granted this information is gathered from public records which state schools have to comply with FOIA information requests and there are reports schools have to file with Feds that are mined for data as well. So maybe Kelly's reported 1.4M salary isn't accurate, but even if it's double that and add in "other" income which really isn't much for the coaches listed. RR at AZ makes the most at 400K. So you might assume Kelly is north of 3M in total compensation. That still only gets him into the top 25, barely. I don't know how I'd feel if I were him, coaching under tremendous pressure at a school that makes a ton off the football program. A school that has to recruit nationally, not just regionally, a school that has lots of limits on who can and who cannot be recruited. It's a tough job, given expectations. But then other than 1 season he hasn't really delivered the type of results the fans expect, and that season ended rather poorly on so many levels with the crushing defeat, the Manti' Te'o situation, and his dalliance with the Eagles. Charlie Strong on the other hand is not surprisingly way up there and hasn't done anything at Texas, yet. But his salary is more a reflection of the money we have to spend on a coach and of course his accomplishments at previous jobs. Sumlin is up there and he's made it on 1 season really and 2 games, the win at Alabama and the destruction of OU in the Cotton Bowl. Since then there has been nothing but trouble with the whole Johnny Football situation, the collapse after a good start last year and who knows what'll happen this year. He's got a strong contract that will be tough to eat if the Ag's don't deliver some great teams in the next couple of years. A guy who's earned it the hard way is Dantonio at Mich State, that guy has done it on the field without the high profile recruits you see at Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, Notre Dame. http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/
I learned many years ago that ND FB head coaches receive far more "outside" income that their salaries. I was involved with a bank that had possession of Ara's financial statement. His salary was $75,000, but his other income was 4-5 times that. I don't recall the total, but I never forgot the salary, which was moderate even in the late 60s. I'm WAGing that Kelly's total income (Under Armour, TV, speaking, etc.) is north of $4 million.