Kirby Smart is set to become the highest-paid coach in college football.
Smart officially received a two-year contract extension from Georgia on Thursday. His current contract with the Bulldogs runs through the 2033 season, and he is scheduled to make $13 million in 2024.
The salary increase makes him the highest-paid coach at a public university, surpassing Clemson's Dabo Swinney, according to USA Today's database. Mr. Swinney is scheduled to earn $11 million in 2024. Private school coaches' salaries are not made public, but it's safe to say that Smart is the highest-paid coach in college football.
With the departures of Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh, the rankings of college football coaches' top salaries will change dramatically in 2024. Saban resigned from his position at Alabama in January, after which Harbaugh left Michigan State after a national title and a 15-0 season to try again in the NFL with the Los Angeles Chargers. Saban and Harbaugh have always been among the highest-paid coaches in college football.
Smart's contract extension and raise come after he signed a 10-year contract with the school in 2022 with a season salary of just over $10 million. At the time of Smart's contract extension, only five other college football coaches had salaries over $9 million in 2022. One of those five (Saban) retired and the other two were fired. Mel Tucker lost his job at Michigan State following harassment allegations, and Texas A&M fired Jimbo Fisher during the 2023 season in the largest buyout in college football history.
Of that group of six, only Ohio State's Ryan Day and LSU's Brian Kelly remain at their current schools.
Georgia State has appeared in the College Football Playoff title game three times and won the national championship twice under Coach Smart, the most since the Bulldogs went 8-5 in their inaugural season in 2016. They have lost just 11 games in seven seasons.
