USA Today salary database illustrates the divide among power conferences

Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Happy USA Today coaches’ salary database day to all who celebrate.

This is a big day around these parts. And let me tell you, from one subscription site to another: The chart that USA Today puts out there detailing every FBS head coach’s salary is worth the price of sub alone.

These are always fascinating lists, even if we already knew some of the basics — Kirby Smart ($13M+) is the highest-paid coach in the country, seven different coaches are making more than $10 million per, etc.

But amid the backdrop of the Big Ten and SEC trying to hijack the sport, and amid the unrest elsewhere, it’s worth breaking these salaries down by power conference.

The data is telling.

By conference the average annual salary breakdown is:

• SEC: $8,073,840

• Big Ten: $6,817,152

• ACC: $6,323,322

• Big 12: $4,912,143

Pretty remarkable, no?

On average, an SEC head coach is making $1,256,688 more than a Big Ten head coach. You might not expect that given that the Big Ten’s TV deal paid more than the SEC’s — $60.5 million per school to $51.3 million, per 2022-23 tax records — but there are other factors to keep in mind, too.

For one, Oregon and Washington are not receiving full Big Ten shares. The Big Ten also sponsors more sports than the SEC, which can send more of that TV money into football.

Almost as remarkable is that the ACC and Big 12 — which have waged their own little off-the-field rivalry lately — are not in the same ballpark here. On average, ACC schools are paying their coaches $1,411,179 million more than Big 12 schools are.

The ACC is actually closer to the Big Ten when it comes to coaching salaries than it is the Big 12.

Of course, that ACC number is inflated by Dabo Swinney ($11,132,775) and Mike Norvell ($10 million, whose schools are both currently suing the ACC.

*Of note: Salaries from Boston College, BYU, Duke, Northwestern, Stanford and Syracuse were not available.