Florida’s Mullen tops in salary among state coaches
Clemson’s Swinney is highest-paid in nation at $9.3 million
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The Florida Gators are the highest-ranked football team in the state of Florida right now, and their coach, Dan Mullen, is among the highest-paid Football Bowl Subdivision coaches in the country.
Mullen, who is in his second season in charge of the Gators’ program, is paid an annual salary of $6.07 million, according to USA Today’s 2019 coaches salaries database released Tuesday. Mullen, 47, is ranked No. 10 nationally.
Clemson’s Dabo Swinney is the highest-paid FBS coach with an annual salary of $9.3 million, according to the database. He’s slightly ahead of Alabama’s Nick Saban ($8.86 million) and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh ($7.5 million).
Mullen’s salary ranks fifth among SEC coaches behind Saban, Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher ($7.5 million), Georgia’s Kirby Smart ($6.87 million) and Auburn’s Gus Malzahn ($6.82 million).
Mullen’s buyout until Dec. 1 is $12 million.
Florida State’s Willie Taggart is the second-highest paid coach in the ACC, landing behind Swinney with a salary of $5 million.
Taggart, who is in the middle of his second season, has guided the program to an 8-11 overall record. His buyout figure is $17.1 million.
USF’s Charlie Strong is the highest-paid coach in the American Athletic Conference with a salary of $5 million. He’s guided the Bulls to a 20-12 record during two-plus seasons, but the team is mired in a 3-4 campaign. USA Today could not obtain his buyout information.
UCF coach Josh Heupel, who has guided the Knights to a 17-3 record and is in the midst of his second season, is due $2.3 million in 2019 with a buyout of $4.862 million. He’s tied with Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell as the fifthhighest paid coach in the AAC.
Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin makes $1.432 million, while FIU’s Butch Davis makes just shy of $1 million at $992,250. Kiffin’s buyout is north of $4 million, while Davis’ is more than $2 million.
Contract numbers for Manny Diaz were unavailable because of Miami’s status as a private school.
Information for the database was gathered through Freedom of Information Act requests. Public schools that receive public funding are the only ones required to comply with the requests.
The average salary of the 122 coaches whose contracts USA Today obtained is $2.67 million, which is up 9% from last season’s numbers. Thirty-three coaches are owed eight-figure buyouts if they’re let go before Dec. 1.