Alabama head coach Nick Saban just became one of the highest-paid coaches in all of sports, thanks to a contract extension signing bonus that was approved by the school on Tuesday. The new deal, first reported by USA Today, brings his 2017 salary to $11.125 million.
In 2014, Saban signed an eight-year extension that paid him $6.9 million a year. Saban’s deal also features a $4 million contract signing bonus for this season, which also extends his deal to eight years, and it’ll give him $65 million through 2025.
Nick Saban got a “Contact Signing Signing Incentive.” Essentially he got another $4 million for signing the three-year extension.
— Aaron Suttles (@AaronSuttles) May 2, 2017
Saban’s salary is now the highest in college football by more than a couple million — Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh took the highest-paid spot with his $9 million salary, part of which included a life insurance policy.
But the Tide head coach’s new deal now gives him one of the highest salaries in all of sports, not just college football. He makes more than San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich’s $11 million, Bill Belichick’s $7.5 million a year with New England, and the San Francisco Giants’ Bruce Bochy’s $6 million annual salary.
Saban will still make less than some soccer managers — Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola makes more than $16 million per year. But being the highest-paid coach in every American sports isn’t too shabby.
The 2014 extension that gave him $6.9 million was already high. It made him more money than what Sun Belt and MAC head coaches made combined, and it was bigger Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia’s $5,000,000 salary.
One of my favorite parts about this whole thing is this picture from the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl’s annual golf tournament, taken on the same day this deal was announced.
Does that look like a dude who just signed a deal to make him $11 million this year?
The enigma of Saban continues to amaze me.
