Kansas coach David Beaty recently received a raise from $801,000 per year to $1.6 million, plus $100,000 raises each year through 2021. The bonuses are the most notable part of this extension for a 2-22 coach -- $50,000 for every FBS win and $100,000 for any Power Five win.
This, of course, begs the question: What is he doing to deserve the other $1.6 million? Wins agianst FCS teams? Nonetheless, we at Price Per Win appreciate Kansas' approach because it mirrors what we do each year.
What did a multimillion dollar contract buy major college football programs in 2016? Depending on the expectations, it bought a whole lot or not nearly enough.
Some of the best bargains: Minnesota's Tracy Claeys, Wisconsin's Paul Chryst, Clemson's Dabo Swinney, West Virginia's Dana Holgorsen, Colorado's Mike MacIntyre, Washington's Chris Petersen, Temple's Matt Rhule, South Florida's Willie Taggart and Western Michigan's P.J. Fleck.
Some bad bargains, at least for this year: Texas' Charlie Strong, Ole Miss' Hugh Freeze, Mississippi State's Dan Mullen, Michigan State's Mark Dantonio, Rutgers' Chris Ash, Virginia's Bronco Mendenhall, Arizona's Rich Rodriguez, Oregon's Mark Helfrich and UCLA's Jim Mora.
Below is a "Price Per Win" chart for the Power Five, the AAC (since it's paying more for coaches these days) and a handful of other Group of Five teams.
A coach's Price Per Win (PPW) takes his 2016 total compensation (as reported through the terrific database compiled by USA Today) and divides it by the number of games his team won this regular season. Bowl games are not counted. We do count a coach's record for the entire season even if he left the job early. The coach still got paid, so we're keeping the entire season with him.
Context is helpful for this chart. This shouldn't be viewed as a one-size-fits-all barometer of coaches. There are ebbs and flows to careers. Injuries are factors. Last year, Dantonio looked like one of the best bargains ($305,960 per win at Michigan State); this year he's at $1.4 million per win.
Coaches can be in different stages of their careers so they're paid higher or lower for different reasons, such as past results or future potential. (Side note: Players are in different stages of their careers too, but alas, they're not permitted by the NCAA to get paid so athletic department money has to get spent on something. Raises it is!)
Naturally, different schools have different capabilities of how much money they can spend. A high PPW number may be just fine for some schools, such as Michigan's Jim Harbaugh ($900,400 per win in a 10-win seasons). Alabama's Nick Saban looks like a bargain at $533,800 with a 13-0 record. Eight other SEC coaches have a higher PPW.
The SEC pays coaches so much -- and had only one team with at least nine wins -- that the league's lowest PPW (Vanderbilt's Derek Mason, $426,146) would rank seventh in the Big Ten and eighth in the ACC. This is another example of why the SEC says it just means more in its conference.
| SEC Coach | Price Per Win | 2016 Record |
| Derek Mason, Vanderbilt | $426,146 | 6-6 |
| Will Muschamp, South Carolina | $500,416 | 6-6 |
| Mark Stoops, Kentucky | $501,943 | 7-5 |
| Butch Jones, Tennessee | $513,750 | 8-4 |
| Jim McElwain, Florida | $533,541 | 8-4 |
| Nick Saban, Alabama | $533,800 | 13-0 |
| Kirby Smart, Georgia | $536,229 | 7-5 |
| Barry Odom, Missouri | $587,500 | 4-8 |
| Gus Malzahn, Auburn | $591,188 | 8-4 |
| Bret Bielema, Arkansas | $592,143 | 7-5 |
| Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M | $625,000 | 8-4 |
| Les Miles, LSU* | $626,510 | 7-4 |
| Dan Mullen, Mississippi State | $840,000 | 5-7 |
| Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss | $940,700 | 5-7 |
| Big Ten Coach | Price Per Win | 2016 Record |
| Tracy Claeys, Minnesota | $175,000 | 8-4 |
| Paul Chryst, Wisconsin | $270,620 | 10-3 |
| Mike Riley, Nebraska | $311,111 | 9-3 |
| Kevin Wilson, Indiana* | $386,667 | 6-6 |
| DJ Durkin, Maryland | $402,000 | 6-6 |
| James Franklin, Penn State | $409,091 | 11-2 |
| Urban Meyer, Ohio State | $554,073 | 11-1 |
| Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern | $558,440 | 6-6 |
| Kirk Ferentz, Iowa | $562,500 | 8-4 |
| Lovie Smith, Illinois | $603,060 | 3-9 |
| Darrell Hazell, Purdue* | $730,000 | 3-9 |
| Jim Harbaugh, Michigan | $900,400 | 10-2 |
| Chris Ash, Rutgers | $1,000,000 | 2-10 |
| Mark Dantonio, Michigan State | $1,433,333 | 3-9 |
| ACC Coach | Price Per Win | 2016 Record |
| Larry Fedora, North Carolina | $248,283 | 8-4 |
| Dave Clawson, Wake Forest | $352,194 | 6-6 |
| Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech | $355,556 | 9-4 |
| Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech | $360,795 | 8-4 |
| Dabo Swinney, Clemson | $368,558 | 12-1 |
| Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech | $355,556 | 9-4 |
| Dave Doeren, NC State | $366,667 | 6-6 |
| Steve Addazio, Boston College | $388,938 | 6-6 |
| Bobby Petrino, Louisville | $434,493 | 9-3 |
| David Cutcliffe, Duke | $580,193 | 4-8 |
| Jimbo Fisher, Florida State | $583,333 | 9-3 |
| Bronco Mendenhall, Virginia | $1,637,500 | 2-10 |
| Salaries for Miami's Mark Richt, Syracuse's Dino Babers and Pittsburgh's Pat Narduzzi were not published. | ||
| Big 12 Coach | Price Per Win | 2016 Record |
| Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia | $298,000 | 10-2 |
| Bill Snyder, Kansas State | $388,250 | 8-4 |
| David Beaty, Kansas | $400,555 | 2-10 |
| Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State | $419,444 | 9-3 |
| Bob Stoops, Oklahoma | $500,000 | 10-2 |
| Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech | $661,315 | 5-7 |
| Matt Campbell, Iowa State | $666,667 | 3-9 |
| Gary Patterson, TCU | $669,121 | 6-6 |
| Charlie Strong, Texas* | $1,040,026 | 5-7 |
| Salary for Baylor's Jim Grobe was not published. | ||
| Pac-12 Coach | Price Per Win | 2016 Record |
| Mike MacIntyre, Colorado | $201,145 | 10-3 |
| Chris Petersen, Washington | $300,487 | 12-1 |
| Mike Leach, Washington State | $368,750 | 8-4 |
| Kyle Whittingham, Utah | $456,250 | 8-4 |
| David Shaw, Stanford | $451,913 | 9-3 |
| Kyle Whittingham, Utah | $456,250 | 8-4 |
| Sonny Dykes, California | $581,600 | 5-7 |
| Todd Graham, Arizona State | $620,688 | 5-7 |
| Gary Andersen, Oregon State | $637,500 | 4-8 |
| Mark Helfrich, Oregon* | $828,175 | 4-8 |
| Jim Mora, UCLA | $862,500 | 4-8 |
| Rich Rodriguez, Arizona | $953,333 | 3-9 |
| Salary for USC's Clay Helton was not published. | ||
| AAC Coach | Price Per Win | 2016 Record |
| Matt Rhule, Temple | $104,174 | 10-3 |
| Willie Taggart, South Florida | $170,400 | 10-2 |
| Ken Niumatalolo, Navy | $222,222 | 9-4 |
| Mike Norvell, Memphis | $225,000 | 8-4 |
| Scott Frost, UCF | $283,333 | 6-6 |
| Scottie Montgomery, East Carolina | $333,333 | 3-9 |
| Tom Herman, Houston | $333,722 | 9-3 |
| Tommy Tuberville, Cincinnati* | $550,000 | 4-8 |
| Bob Diaco, Connecticut | $566,667 | 3-9 |
| Salaries for Tulsa's Philip Montgomery, SMU's Chad Morris and Tulane's Willie Fritz were not published. | ||
| Other Coaches | Price Per Win | 2016 Record |
| Scott Satterfield, Appalachian State | $58,333 | 9-3 |
| P.J. Fleck, Western Michigan | $63,105 | 13-0 |
| Neal Brown, Troy | $73,333 | 9-3 |
| Jeff Brohm, Western Kentucky | $80,872 | 10-3 |
| Rocky Long, San Diego State | $81,063 | 10-3 |
| Blake Anderson, Arkansas State | $100,000 | 7-5 |
| Craig Bohl, Wyoming | $113,625 | 8-5 |
| Bryan Harsin, Boise State | $130,000 | 10-2 |
| Brian Kelly, Notre Dame | $406,183 | 4-8 |
