Who Is The Highest Paid College Baseball Coach?

The title of this blog post is pretty self explanatory. We are going to take a look at who is the highest paid college baseball coach in the country.

The Highest Paid College Baseball Coaches

College baseball coaches are typically some of the highest paid coaches in all of college athletics. This is due in large part to the revenue that college baseball generates for universities. The top ten highest paid college baseball coaches all make over $1 million per year.

John Calipari – University of Kentucky

In 2018, John Calipari was the highest paid college baseball coach, with an annual salary of $7.45 million. He is followed by Jim Harbaugh of the University of Michigan, who earned $7 million in 2018. Dabo Swinney of Clemson University is third on the list, with an annual salary of $6.75 million.

Dabo Swinney – Clemson University

In 2018, Clemson University’s head baseball coach, dop Swinney, was the highest paid college baseball coach with a salary of $2.75 million. Swinney has been the head coach at Clemson since 2008. In that time, he has led the Tigers to six College World Series appearances and three ACC championships. He has also been named the ACC Coach of the Year four times.

Nick Saban – University of Alabama

As the current head coach of the University of Alabama’s football team, Nick Saban is no stranger to big pay days. In 2017, he was the highest paid college football coach in the country, earning a whopping $11.1 million dollars. But did you know that he also holds the title for highest paid college baseball coach? That’s right, in 2016 Saban earned a impressive $4.5 million dollars to lead Alabama’s Crimson Tide baseball team.

While that may seem like a lot of money, it’s actually pretty standard for college baseball coaches these days. In fact, according to USA Today’s coaching salary database, the average salary for a Division I baseball coach is just over $1 million dollars. That means that Saban is earning more than four times the average salary for his position.

So just how does Nick Saban manage to bring in so much money? For starters, he has an incredibly successful track record as a head coach. He led the Crimson Tide to their first national championship in 2009 and has won six SEC championships since taking over the program in 2007. He also has a lucrative contract with Alabama that includes a $4 million dollar signing bonus and annual performance bonuses that could be worth up to $700,000 dollars.

Saban’s high salary isn’t just good news for him, it’s also good news for Alabama’s baseball program. Thanks to his massive coaching contract, the school is able to invest more money into its facilities and recruiting efforts. And that investment is paying off, as Alabama has made seven NCAA tournament appearances since Saban took over as head coach.

So if you’re a fan of college baseball, you can thank Nick Saban for making it one of the most exciting and competitive sports around. And if you’re a fan of big pay days, you can thank him for that too!

The College Baseball Coaches with the Highest Paid Salaries

College baseball coaches are some of the highest paid coaches in all of college athletics. The top college baseball coaches can make over $1 million per year. The top 10 highest paid college baseball coaches each made over $500,000 in the 2018 season.

Mike Krzyzewski – Duke University

In 2019, Mike Krzyzewski was the highest paid college baseball coach, with a salary of $7.3 million. Krzyzewski has been the head coach at Duke since 1980, and has led the team to five NCAA Division I Championships. He is also a member of the National Collegiate Baseball Hall of Fame.

Jim Harbaugh – University of Michigan

In 2019, Jim Harbaugh is the highest paid college baseball coach with an annual salary of $7.504 million. This is a decrease from his 2018 salary, which was $7.5 million. Before coming to Michigan, Harbaugh coached in the NFL for the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks. He has also coached at Stanford University.

Bill Belichick – New England Patriots

Belichick has been the head coach of the Patriots since 2000, and has led the team to six Super Bowl victories: 2001 (XXXVI), 2003 (XXXVIII), 2004 (XXXIX), 2014 (XLIX), 2016 (LI), and 2018 (LIII). He is one of only three head coaches to win six Super Bowls, joining Chuck Noll and Pro Football Hall of Famer Curly Lambeau in that feat. In 2007, he was inducted into the inaugural class of the Patriot’s Hall of Fame.

The College Baseball Coaches with the Lowest Paid Salaries

Many college baseball coaches are among the lowest-paid coaches in all of college athletics. In most cases, these coaches are paid less than coaches of other college sports. This is because college baseball is not as popular as other sports such as football and basketball. As a result, there is less money available to pay the coaches.

Kevin Ollie – University of Connecticut

In recent years, college baseball has seen an influx of money, with some head coaches commanding salaries in the millions of dollars. But not all coaches are so lucky. In fact, there are a number of college baseball coaches who make far less than their counterparts.

One such coach is Kevin Ollie of the University of Connecticut. Ollie is in his seventh season with the Huskies, and has a salary of just $500,000. That’s well below the average salary for a Division I baseball coach, which is around $1 million.

Despite his low salary, Ollie has had success at Connecticut. He has led the Huskies to three NCAA tournament appearances, including a trip to the College World Series in 2016. He also has a solid winning percentage of .611 over his seven seasons.

So why isn’t Ollie paid more? It could be because Connecticut isn’t a traditional power in college baseball. The Huskies have never won a national championship, and don’t have the same history or pedigree as other programs. Additionally, Connecticut doesn’t have its own stadium, instead playing its home games at a minor league ballpark in Norwich, Connecticut.

Ollie’s low salary doesn’t appear to be impacting his performance on the field, though it’s worth noting that he does have one of the lowest paid staffs in all of Division I baseball. His assistant coaches make an average of just $74,000 per year.

Chris Petersen – University of Washington

In 2015, Chris Petersen became the first coach in Washington Huskies history to lead the team to a Pac-12 title in his first season. He followed that up by winning the conference again in 2016. It’s no wonder, then, that he is the highest-paid college baseball coach in the country, with a salary of $4.6 million.

Petersen’s successes at Washington have not gone unnoticed by other programs. In 2017, he was courted by the University of Oregon to become its head football coach. Petersen ultimately decided to stay with the Huskies, signing a contract extension that made him the highest-paid coach in college football, with an annual salary of $5.6 million.

Clay Helton – University of Southern California

In 2018, Clay Helton was the lowest-paid coach in Division I baseball, earning an annual salary of $200,000. That’s far less than the average major league baseball player earns, and a fraction of what the highest-paid college baseball coach earns.

Helton’s low salary is due in part to the fact that he is also the head football coach at USC. In that role, he earned a salary of $4.5 million in 2018. USC is one of the few schools in the country that doesn’t pay its baseball coach a separate salary; instead, they just give him a stipend on top of his football salary.

Despite his low pay, Helton has had some success as USC’s baseball coach. He led the team to the College World Series in 2016 and 2018, and he was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2018.