Ranking the 10 Most Overpaid College Football Coaches of All Time

Published: March 28, 2025
Author: Richard Foster
Category: Sports

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College football coaches make insane amounts of money, but not all of them actually earn those paychecks. Whether it’s massive buyouts, lackluster records, or just plain failing to meet expectations, some coaches cashed in way more than they should have.

Here are the 10 most overpaid college football coaches of all time, ranked from mildly ridiculous to completely absurd.

10. Bret Bielema (Arkansas, 2013-2017)

Bielema arrived in Fayetteville with a big salary and even bigger expectations, but his teams never came close to competing for an SEC title. Arkansas paid him $4 million a year, only to watch him go 29-34 before handing him a $11.8 million buyout to leave.

9. Charlie Weis (Notre Dame & Kansas, 2005-2014)

Weis somehow convinced two different schools to give him massive contracts while barely winning games. Notre Dame fired him with six years left on his contract, and Kansas paid him $2.5 million a year to go 6-22 before cutting ties.

8. Jimbo Fisher (Texas A&M, 2018-2023)

Fisher was handed a 10-year, $95 million contract despite doing little at Texas A&M beyond recruiting well and making promises. When the Aggies finally fired him in 2023, they owed him a record-setting $75 million buyout, making him the most expensive coaching mistake in college football history.

7. Will Muschamp (Florida & South Carolina, 2011-2020)

Muschamp somehow kept landing SEC head coaching gigs despite never proving he could build a successful program. Florida and South Carolina both paid him millions to fail, and after being fired twice, he still walked away with over $20 million in buyouts.

6. Kevin Sumlin (Texas A&M & Arizona, 2012-2020)

Sumlin cashed in after Johnny Manziel’s Heisman season but never lived up to the hype afterward. Texas A&M and Arizona both paid him millions for average-at-best results, leading to more than $20 million in buyouts when they finally gave up.

5. Rich Rodriguez (Michigan, 2008-2010)

Michigan gave Rodriguez a six-year, $15 million contract to modernize their offense, but all he did was turn them into a joke. His three-year record of 15-22 led to an early firing and a $2.5 million buyout, proving that not every “hot hire” pans out.

4. Gus Malzahn (Auburn, 2013-2020)

Auburn paid Malzahn $49 million over eight years, despite the fact that his teams were wildly inconsistent and never a true title threat. When they finally had enough, they paid him a $21.5 million buyout, making him one of the most expensive mediocrity experiments ever.

3. Lane Kiffin (Tennessee & USC, 2009-2013)

Kiffin somehow convinced Tennessee and USC to throw big money at him, only to leave both programs worse off. Tennessee paid him millions to go 7-6 before he bolted, and USC fired him on the tarmac in 2013 after realizing they had overpaid for a coach who couldn’t deliver.

2. Tom Herman (Texas, 2017-2020)

Texas gave Herman a $6 million-a-year contract, expecting him to turn the program into a powerhouse. Instead, he produced zero Big 12 titles, underwhelming recruiting, and an eventual $15 million buyout to make way for yet another overpaid Texas coach.

1. Les Miles (Kansas, 2019-2021)

Miles had already lost his fastball by the time Kansas inexplicably handed him a $13.8 million contract. He won just three games in two years before getting fired for cause due to past misconduct allegations, making him both a football and PR disaster.