How skyrocketing salaries help draw sitting head coaches to Power Four
Published 11 December 2024
Kane Wommack had wanted to be a head college football coach since he was 6, when he dressed in one of his father’s hats and whistles for Halloween.
But after getting the opportunity to lead his own team in 2020, when South Alabama made him the youngest head coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision at 33, he gave it up – resigning three seasons later to become defensive coordinator at the state’s powerhouse program, Alabama.
On the surface, it might have seemed like an unusual career move – a step backwards, perhaps, for a sitting head coach coming off back-to-back winning seasons. But shifting dynamics in the FBS, including a growing chasm between the sport’s haves and have-nots, have changed the calculus for coaches as they attempt to climb the ranks.
Not only did Wommack avoid a pay cut while taking on a lesser title at Alabama. His base pay nearly doubled, from $810,000 to $1.55 million. And he wasn't alone.
In the span of just a few weeks last winter, four of the 61 head coaches at Group of Five schools left to become assistants in the more competitive and well-heeled Power Four. That’s on top of the two Power Four head coaches over the past year who also have resigned to become college coordinators – most recently Gus Malzahn, who stepped down last month at Central Florida to become the offensive coordinator at Florida State.
In news conferences or interviews, each of the aforementioned coaches have cited different reasons for leaving their head coaching jobs, such as being closer to family or getting the opportunity to work for a friend. But coaches and athletics directors also acknowledge that a changing FBS landscape has made such moves more practical.
As part of its annual survey of assistant coach compensation, USA TODAY Sports found that it's never been more lucrative to be an offensive or defensive coordinator at the Power Four level, with the average pay for those positions increasing nearly 25% in just four years, up to $1.1 million annually in 2024. And this year, for perhaps the first time, Power Four coordinators are making even more than Group of Five head coaches, whose average pay is $1.05 million.
At the same time, coaches and athletics directors say it’s also never been more difficult – or more complicated – to be a head coach. This is especially true in the Group of Five, where the rules changes empowering players to more easily transfer and profit off their name, image and likeness have had a more jarring impact than in the Power Four.