Tennessee basketball and head coach Rick Barnes agreed to a new “lifetime contract” Thursday that will keep the veteran coach in Knoxville for the remainder of his career. The Vols will add a year to Barnes’ contract every April until the 71-year old coach decides to retire.
The new contract does briefly increase Barnes’ salary to $6 million a season indefinitely. Barnes made $5.8 million a season ago and was originally going to be bumped to $5.9 million in 2025-26 and $6 million in 2026-27. The new contract bumps the pay up to $6 million straight for the 2025-26 season.
Where does Barnes’ new annual salary rank nationally compared to other college basketball coaches? 247sports Carter Bahns compiled the highest paid coaches during the 2024-25 season, when Barnes ranked eighth nationally. Drawing from Bahns’ work and updating it with new contract updates from the offseason, we know where Barnes’ salary ranks nationally.
Barnes is tied with Florida’s Todd Golden as the nation’s sixth highest paid coach. Golden signed an extension at Florida following the Gators’ 2025 national championship that will pay him $6 million this season with increases annually after that.
Auburn’s Bruce Pearl is the nation’s fifth highest paid coach. The Tigers paid Pearl $5.93 million a year ago but his contract gives him an annual $250,000 raise that will pay him $6.18 million next season. UCLA’s Mick Cronin made more than Barnes last season due to a $2 million pay retention but will not make more this season.
The other coaches making more money than Barnes annually include Kansas’ Bill Self ($8.8 million), Arkansas’ John Calipari ($8 million), UConn’s Dan Hurley ($7.78 million) and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo ($6.196 million).
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Other SEC coaches ranked in the top 20 nationally include Alabama’s Nate Oats ($5.01 million), Kentucky’s Mark Pope ($5 million), Ole Miss’ Chris Beard ($5 million) and Texas’ Sean Miller ($4.8 million).
Two small caveats. Houston and Kelvin Sampson agreed to an extension earlier this offseason but the financials on the deal are not yet clear. The financials also are not public for Duke’s Jon Scheyer as Duke is a private institution.
Barnes has guided Tennessee through the most successful stretch in program history. The Vols have made the NCAA Tournament seven times in Barnes’ 10 years as head coach, making four trips to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament— twice losing in the Sweet 16 and twice losing in the Elite Eight.
The Vols have also won the SEC Regular-Season Championship twice under Barnes’ leadership including an outright title in 2024 and won the 2022 SEC Tournament.
Perhaps the most important part of Barnes’ tenure at Tennessee is the way he’s adapted to the changing college basketball landscape. While many older coaches have retired in recent years, the 71-year old Barnes has only gotten better. The Vols have ranked in the top 25 of the AP Poll every week the last four seasons, have made the Elite Eight each of the last two years and made the Sweet 16 the year prior.
Expectations are high for Tennessee again this season. The Vols lost many significant pieces from last season’s Elite Eight team but return the bulk of their front court and added All-Big 10 point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie as well as five-star wing Nate Ament to the roster this offseason.
