Josh Heupel, the head coach of the Tennessee Vols, has plenty of money.
Entering his fourth season as Tennessee’s head coach, the former Sooners quarterback is one of college football’s highest paid coaches.
Heupel, at $9 million annually, is tied for eighth place among college football coaches in terms of salary, according to 247Sports.
Both Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss and Mark Stoops at Kentucky earn $9 million annually.
The coaches before Heupel are as follows:
1. Swinney Dabo — Clemson
2. Georgia’s Kirby Smart
3. Ohio State’s Ryan Day
4. Alabaman Kalen DeBoer
4. USC’s Lincoln Riley
4. Mike Norvell State of Florida
Recently, coaching salaries have increased to unprecedented levels. For college football programs, however, there is no getting around it. In order to keep teams in need of a new head coach away, programs that get a coach who is doing a good job are practically required to give that coach a raise every offseason.
With Heupel, Tennessee has seen success not seen since Phillip Fulmer was roving the sidelines in Knoxville. It would be difficult to contend that he isn’t deserving of his $9 million salary.