Just to help everyone figure out the magnitude of a $5M buyout compared to the rest of the NCAA in the big money schools, here are the top salaries for NCAA basketball and football:
NCAAB (salaries include bonuses):
1. Duke ACC Mike Krzyzewski $7.23M (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010 champion)
2. Kentucky John Calipari SEC $5.4M (2012 champion under Calipari and 1998 champion under #3 Rick Pitino)
3. Louisville Big East-->ACC Rick Pitino $4.97M (2013 champion)(note: 1986 champion under Denny Crum, over #1 Mike Kryzewski)
4. Kansas B12 Bill Self $4.96M (2008 champion)
5. Michigan State B1G Tom Izzo $3.75M (2000 champion, 7x B1G champion since 1998)
6. Florida SEC Billy Donovan $3.69M (2006, 2007 champion)
The list that we care about is here, NCAA football:
1. Alabama SEC Nick Saban $5.5M staff pay avg $3.8M (2009, 2011, 2012)(2003 at LSU)
2. Texas B12 Mack Brown $5.4M (2005)
3. Oklahoma B12 Bobby Stoops $4.6M (2000)
4. Ohio State Little10 Urban Meyer $4.3M (2006, 2008 at Florida)
5. LSU SEC Mad Hatter $3.9M (2007)
6. Iowa B1G Kirk Ferentz $3.8M
7. Louisville Big East-->ACC Charlie Strong $3.7M
8. South Carolina SEC Steve Spurrier $3.6M (1996 at Florida)
15. Georgia SEC Mark Richt $2.9M
17. FSU ACC Jimbo Fisher $2.75M
18. Mizzou SEC Gary Pinkel $2.7M
20. Mississippi State SEC Dan Mullen $2.6M
22. Kansas St B12 Charlie Weis $2.5M
23. Florida SEC Will Muschamp $2.5M
The summary here is that we must keep in mind that the schools do factor in salaries for other big money sports as well. The athletic directors do the hiring, and they must balance the books amongst all the sports. The average salary for the top 10 coaches is just under $4M, or right at $5M for the top 5, and each of these top 5 have a national championship within the past 12 years. Louisville is investing top dollars in basketball and football, and they are probably not going to let Charlie Strong go. $5M is his buyout number, but I think Florida can afford it. Back in the day Florida had a top-6 basketball salary and a top-5 football salary and they won back-t0-back-t0-back football and basketball championships. Maybe it is time for Florida to dig deep, not just for a championship, but an elite football program once again.
Before I get off the stage, I do have to rank the salaries of the total football staff:
1. Texas $70M
2. Georgia $52M
3. LSU $47M
4. Michigan $46M
5. Florida $46M
6. Alabama $46M
7. Penn State $43M
8. Ohio State $40M
It looks like Florida can add another $5M to pay an elite staff of coaches.