Longtime Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds, the architect of the modern-day Longhorns’ financial juggernaut, always believed that UT coaches should be among the top five highest-paid in the nation.
They don’t have to No. 1 among their counterparts. But top five sounded and felt right.
Texas’ Steve Sarkisian isn’t the highest paid football coach in America, but No. 3 isn’t bad, either. That’s where Sarkisian landed in USA Today’s updated listed of head coaching salaries for 2024.
The updated list, released early Wednesday, reveals that Sarkisian’s huge new contract after the 2023 season vaulted him into the top five behind Georgia’s Kirby Smart ($13 million) and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney ($11 million). Sarkisian is scheduled to receive $10.6 million in guaranteed money for the 2024 season and could earn another $1.85 million in performance bonuses.
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Related: No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 1 Texas: Why Saturday’s matchup is the biggest game in Royal-Memorial Stadium history
When Sarkisian signed his initial contract in 2021, he made more than $5 million annually and saw incremental increases. Now, he’s being paid like the coach who leads the top-ranked program in the Associated Press Top 25 and a national title contender. Sarkisian's new deal extends to 2030.
No. 1 Texas (6-0, 2-0 SEC) hosts No. 5 Georgia (5-1, 3-1) this Saturday in what is easily the biggest game in Royal-Memorial Stadium history.
If Texas officials somehow woke up Wednesday morning and wanted to fire Sarkisian, the school would owe him about $55 million in buyout money, according to USA Today.
USC’s Lincoln Riley, Florida State’s Mike Norvell and Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer are all scheduled to make at least $10 million this season as well.
“I don't know if I ever had just a timetable on when we were going to be competing for championships,” Sarkisian said before the Oklahoma game. “I definitely wanted it to happen sooner than it did. Truth be told, you know, you go through some of those tough roads in year one and some of the ups and downs in year two, and you're thinking, man, we're so close.”
The Longhorns were 5-7 in Sarkisian in first season in 2021. The program took a dramatic leap in 2022 by going 8-5. Then last season, the Horns broke through and went 12-2, won the Big 12 championship and reached the College Football Playoffs for the first time.
Related: Texas HC Steve Sarkisian swats away Billy Bowman’s comment as Longhorns done with Oklahoma, on to Georgia
“Every year, there are so many other new challenges that present themselves, and so for this journey, this season in 2024, to get off to the start that it has, I’m proud of our coaches, our staff, our players, that we are in this position,” Sarkisian said. “But there’s such a long way to go. It’s even hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel for the season.
“And we know how difficult and how challenging our conference schedule is, and now we’re navigating different waters with what an extended College Football Playoff could look like that, I just try to appreciate the way we prepare and the way we play week in and week out. I try to appreciate the culture and the leadership that we have and the intent in which our guys come to work every day.
“And that, to me, is what I envisioned. I think the record and the rankings and all those other things are a byproduct of what we put in every single day. So that part I’m proud of. And you know, we'll see what the end result looks like there at the end of the season.”
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