On Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, USA TODAY updated its list of college football head coach salaries across the country. This included Tennessee football’s Josh Heupel, who is paid handsomely for his work with the Vols.
Heupel is paid $9 million in total, according to the list. This is tied for the 10th-most of any coach in the country. He is tied with Kentucky’s Mark Stoops, Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz and Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin at this mark.
Heupel’s ‘maximum bonus’ is listed at $1.7 million. In the 2024-25 cycle, he was paid a bonus of $350,000.
As of Dec. 1, 2025, Heupel’s buyout is listed at a total of $37.5 million. There is far from any indication that Heupel’s seat is even remotely hot, though. Coming off a playoff appearance, he has Tennessee at 4-1 (1-1 SEC) despite an offseason full of turmoil.
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The highest-paid coach in the country, according to USA TODAY, is Georgia’s Kirby Smart. The Bulldogs’ head man is at just a hair over $13 million. Second place is Ryan Day at Ohio State at just over $12.5 million, and third is USC’s Lincoln Riley at just over $11.5 million.
In fourth, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney is at just under $11.5 million. Fifth place is Texas’ Steve Sarkisian at $10.8 million. The rest of the way leading up to the tie for 10th are Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer, LSU’s Brian Kelly and North Carolina’s Bill Belichick.
This makes Heupel tied for the fifth-highest-paid coach in the SEC. The lowest-paid coach in the conference is Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea at just over $3.7 million. Mississippi State’s Jeff Lebby is just ahead at $4.35 million. This makes the pair the 57th and 55th-highest-paid coaches in the country.
There are 14 coaches without salaries listed, but it’s unlikely any of which would crack the top 10 ahead of Heupel. The top programs on the list that aren’t named are Duke, Boston College, BYU, Syracuse, Wake Forest and Stanford.
