Oregon's Dan Lanning among nation's top 10 highest-paid CFB coaches in 2026

May 9, 2026

By Wilson Alexander, On3: Several prominent jobs opened during the 2025 college football coaching carousel, and the salaries that followed raised the bar for how much it takes to land among the top 10 of the highest-paid coaches in the country.

With LSU, Penn State, Florida, Auburn, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech, UCLA and Stanford all hiring new coaches, it was a particularly active cycle. Some coaches parlayed interest into lucrative extensions at their current schools, while others left to fill those jobs.

Two coaches, Brian Kelly and Bill Belichick, dropped out of the top 10. Kelly was fired in the midst of his fourth season at LSU, which hired Lane Kiffin away from Ole Miss. Belichick is still set to make $10.1 million in his second season at North Carolina, but an eight-figure salary no longer guarantees a spot in the top 10.

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Curt Cignetti, Kirby Smart lead list of top 10 highest-paid coaches in 2026

Indiana's Curt Cignetti and Georgia's Kirby Smart lead a list of the top 10 highest-paid college football coaches in 2026.

On3

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