Top 25 college programs for paying out the most dead money

There’s a ton of money invested into college sports – and that’s saying the least. Nearly every Division I and FBS program – primarily in football and basketball – pays their head coaches a load of money every single year. The multi-million dollar contracts include a large annual salary and plenty of incentives, but they also include an important section: a buyout agreement, which has led to many, many schools having to pay out dead money to fired coaches over the years.

In a recent feature put together by ESPN, The Boom of Dead Money in College Sports, it presents mind-boggling numbers of buyouts that colleges have had to pay their former coaches over time – highlighted by an 11-year stretch from Jan. 1, 2010 to Jan. 31, 2021 that included more than $533.6 million in dead money from what programs owed coaches in football and men’s and women’s basketball who were fired without cause with time remaining on their contracts.

According to the feature, 116 coaches received more than $1 million, Nebraska paid out the most dead money in women’s basketball at $1.4 million, strength and conditioning coaches received a total of $5.4 million and $471 million was the total number of dead money paid out at the Power 5 level.

Looking at conferences and from the football side, the SEC paid out the most dead money with $123.2 million, while the Pac-12 was second at $85.3 million, the Big Ten was third at $67.7 million, non-Power 5 conferences had a total of $47.4 million and were a combined fourth, the Big 12 was fifth with $50 million and the ACC came in sixth at $28.7 million.

As football coaches were paid over three times as much as men’s basketball coaches, the SEC paid out just $25.3 million in men’s hoops dead money compared to its $123.2 million in football. After the SEC, the Big Ten paid out $34 million, the Pac-12 paid out $24.9 million, non-Power 5 conferences had a total of $12.8 million, the ACC paid out $11.2 million and the Big 12 was the lowest at $8 million.

Former Florida and South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp has made a career off of getting fired from jobs, as he’s reeled in a total of $19.2 million in buyout money, which tops the list of dead money recipients. Muschamp – now a senior analyst at Georgia – received $12.9 million from South Carolina and another $6.3 from Florida … just to stop coaching.

Looking at the top 25 programs in dead money payouts

Here’s a look at the 25 programs that have paid out the most dead money to head coaches, assistant coaches and strength and conditioning coaches from Jan. 1, 2010 to Jan. 31, 2021:

1. Auburn

Auburn paid out a total of $31.2 million to 20 total coaches, with seven of them receiving $1 million or more.

2. Nebraska

Nebraska paid out a total of $25.8 million to 31 total coaches, with five of them receiving $1 million or more.

3. Texas

Texas paid out a total of $21.5 million to 21 total coaches, with six of them receiving $1 million or more.

4. Ole Miss

Ole Miss paid out a total of $20.4 million to 51 total coaches, with six of them receiving $1 million or more.

5. Kansas

Kansas paid out a total of $20 million to 42 total coaches, with three of them receiving $1 million or more.

6. Arizona State

Arizona State paid out a total of $18.7 million to 15 total coaches, with three of them receiving $1 million or more.

7. South Carolina

South Carolina paid out a total of $18.6 million to 13 total coaches, with two of them receiving $1 million or more.

8. Oregon

Oregon paid out a total of $16.5 million to 11 total coaches, with three of them receiving $1 million or more.

9. Texas A&M

Texas A&M paid out a total of $16.4 million to 30 total coaches, with three of them receiving $1 million or more.

10. UCLA

UCLA paid out a total of $15.5 million to three total coaches, with all three of them receiving $1 million or more.

11. Rutgers

Rutgers paid out a total of $15.4 million to 40 total coaches, with four of them receiving $1 million or more.

12. Colorado

Colorado paid out a total of $15.2 million to 34 total coaches, with three of them receiving $1 million or more.

13. LSU

LSU paid out a total of $14.8 million to 15 total coaches, with four of them receiving $1 million or more.

14. Maryland

Maryland paid out a total of $13 million to 11 total coaches, with four of them receiving $1 million or more.

15. Illinois

Illinois paid out a total of $12.3 million to 20 total coaches, with three of them receiving $1 million or more.

16. California

California paid out a total of $11.6 million to 22 total coaches, with three of them receiving $1 million or more.

17. Arizona

Arizona paid out a total of $11.4 million to three total coaches, with all three of them receiving $1 million or more.

18. Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech paid out a total of $10.9 million to 25 total coaches, with three of them receiving $1 million or more.

19. South Florida

South Florida paid out a total of $10.5 million to 33 total coaches, with three of them receiving $1 million or more.

20. Ohio State

Ohio State paid out a total of $10.2 million to eight total coaches, with only one of them receiving $1 million or more.

21. Georgia

Georgia paid out a total of $9.6 million to 17 total coaches, with three of them receiving $1 million or more.

22. Minnesota

Minnesota paid out a total of $9.3 million to 21 total coaches, with three of them receiving $1 million or more.

23. UConn

UConn paid out a total of $9.1 million to 42 total coaches, with only one of them receiving $1 million or more.

24. Kentucky

Kentucky paid out a total of $8.5 million to 25 total coaches, with two of them receiving $1 million or more.

25. Louisville

Louisville paid out a total of $8.4 million to 25 total coaches, with only one of them receiving $1 million or more.