Baseball coaches’ salaries rise in SEC
As SEC baseball has grown in popularity and increasingly exerted its dominance, its salaries for coaches, too, have skyrocketed.
In 2022, only Vanderbilt's Tim Corbin made over $1.5 million among SEC coaches. Now, four coaches will hit that mark for the 2024 season, according to records obtained by the USA TODAY Network.
The two coaches who faced off in the 2023 College World Series finals — LSU's Jay Johnson and Florida's Kevin O'Sullivan — each received significant raises with new contract extensions. Those two, along with 2022 national champion Mike Bianco of Ole Miss and Tony Vitello of Tennessee, now join Corbin in making at least $1.5 million.
Nick Mingione, who was named the USA TODAY Network's SEC coach of the year, did so despite being the SEC's fourth lowest-paid coach at just $705,000. Mingione led Kentucky to its second super regional in program history in 2023 and its second SEC title in 2024.
On the other hand, each of the league's top four highest-paid coaches face an uncertain postseason outcome. Bianco's Ole Miss likely needs to win the SEC Tournament to receive an NCAA Tournament bid. Florida, Vanderbilt and LSU are three of five teams that finished 13-17 and are on the bubble.
After there were no first-year coaches in the SEC in 2023, the 2024 season has seen three first-timers: Rob Vaughn at Alabama, Wes Johnson at Georgia and Kerrick Jackson at Missouri. Each of the three makes more than their predecessor.
Here is how much every coach in the SEC is paid and how Texas and Oklaho
ma, the two new additions for 2024-25, compare. Payment numbers do not include bonuses or incentives subject to the team's performance in 2024, nor do they include non-monetary compensation such as the use of a car or team-issued equipment.
How Texas, Oklahoma salaries compare to the SEC
Texas and Oklahoma will join the SEC baseball ranks for the 2025 season. While the two coaches, Texas' David Pierce and Oklahoma's Skip Johnson, are compensated well in the Big 12, each of them would rank in the bottom half of the SEC.
Pierce, who will make $1.2 million for the 2024 season, is one of the highestpaid coaches outside the SEC. However, his salary would rank just 10th among SEC coaches. Johnson is set to make $775,000 in 2024, which includes a payment of $100,000 he received for remaining employed on Feb. 1, 2024. Johnson's salary will increase by $25,000 for 2024-25, according to the terms of his current contract.
SEC baseball coaching salaries 2024
Vanderbilt's Tim Corbin: $1,942,165 Note: Corbin's pay comes from the school's most recently available tax records and covers the 2022 calendar year. It includes the value of bonuses and benefits.
Florida's Kevin O'Sullivan: $1.755 million
Note: This number includes a payment of $100,000 that O'Sullivan will receive if he is still employed as Florida's coach on June 30, 2024.
LSU's Jay Johnson: $1.65 million Ole Miss' Mike Bianco: $1.625 million
Note: Pay includes salary from state contract, plus compensation from a contract with the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation, a private nonprofit organization that declined to release the specific agreement. The university provided a summary of current pay under that agreement.
Tennessee's Tony Vitello: $1.5 million
Texas A&M's Jim Schlossnagle: $1.46 million
Note: Pay includes a sum of $110,000 paid out as part of a contract with Wilson, the baseball program's equipment provider.
Arkansas' Dave Van Horn: $1.4 million
Mississippi State's Chris Lemonis: $1.3 million
Note: Pay includes salary from state contract, plus compensation from a contract with the Bulldog Club Inc., a private nonprofit organization that declined to release the specific agreement. The university provided a summary of current pay under that agreement.
Auburn's Butch Thompson: $1.275 million
Alabama's Rob Vaughn: $900,000 Kentucky's Nick Mingione: $705,000
Georgia's Wes Johnson: $702,000 South Carolina's Mark Kingston: $695,958
Missouri's Kerrick Jackson:
$675,000