Tennessee Football: Where Josh Heupel is now ranked in SEC coaching salary

Josh Heupel on Tuesday cashed in on Tennessee’s 11-win season, signing a contract extension that runs through January 29 and comes with an annual compensation of $9 million, plus incentives. 

The $5 million raise — Heupel earned $4 million in 2022, under his previous contract — takes Heupel to around fifth among SEC coaches in salary.

Alabama’s Nick Saban tops the list at $11.7 million, ahead of Kirby Smart, who makes $11.25 million after leading Georgia to back-to-back national championships. Jimbo Fisher makes $9.5 million at Texas A&M and Brian Kelly makes $9.5 million at LSU.

Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss and Mark Stoops at Kentucky both make $9 million per year. Billy Napier makes $7.4 million at Florida while South Carolina’s Shame Beamer, Missouri Eli Drinkwitz and Auburn’s Hugh Freeze all make $6.5 million. 

Sam Pittman makes $6.2 million at Arkansas, Clark Lea has a $3.75 million deal at Vanderbilt and new Mississippi State head coach Zach Arnett makes $3 million entering his first season as a head coach.

A closer look at Josh Heupel’s new contract with Tennessee

Heupel would be owed 100 percent of his remaining salary if he were fired without cause before December 15, 2025. The buyout drops to 75 percent between 2025 and 2027. It falls to 50 percent after December 15, 2027.

He has bonuses that go from $100,000 for making a bowl game to $1 million for winning the national championship. Heupel also has incentives for reaching the SEC Championship game, winning a coach of the year award, academic progress achievements and where Tennessee finishes in the rankings.

“The results over Josh’s first two seasons speak for themselves,” Tennessee athletic director Danny White said in a press release announcing the new deal with Heupel. “He and his staff have energized both our football program and our fanbase with an aggressive brand of football, a competitive culture that creates leaders and a relentless approach to raising the bar every single day. 

“Despite a brief period of dormancy, Tennessee never surrendered its status as a college football powerhouse. We just needed an innovative leader like Josh Heupel to reignite the spark. It’s been fun to crash the party, but as Josh said after our Orange Bowl triumph, the best is yet to come.”

Heupel is 46-16 in five seasons as a head coach, with an 18-8 overall record at Tennessee and a 10-6 record in SEC games. He went 28-8 in three seasons at Central Florida before being hired away by White in January 2021.

He led Tennessee to a 7-6 record in his first year, taking the Vols to the Music City Bowl, then started Year 2 with an 8-0 record, climbing to No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff Top 25 of the season.

Josh Heupel ‘grateful’ for contract extension from Vols

Tennessee won 10 games in the regular season for the first time since 2003 and won 11 games for the first time since 2001, finishing 11-2 after the 31-14 win over Clemson in the Capital One Orange Bowl on December 30.

“I am grateful to President Boyd, Chancellor Plowman, Danny White and of Vol Nation for their tremendous support,” Heupel said in a statement. “Our staff takes great pride in representing the Power T, and it’s something we never take for granted. We will continue to work tirelessly to build a championship program that all of Vol Nation and all VFLs can be proud of.

“Most importantly, our players are the people who deserve all of the credit for our resurgence on Rocky Top. Over the last two years, they believed in us and poured their energy into every single day with hard work, leadership, cohesiveness and consistent habits. I am proud to be their coach.”

Heupel uptempo offense this season finished first nationally in scoring (46.1 points per game), total offense (525.5 yards per game) and passing efficiency (181.39). The Vols were second in yards per pass attempt (10.00) and fewest interceptions thrown (3). They were fifth in passing offense (326.1 yards per game) and completion percentage (68.7) and were sixth in yards per completions (14.62).

Tennessee set new program records for scoring offense, total offense, passing efficiency, completion percentage, yards per completion, yards per attempt, first-down offense, red-zone offense, touchdowns scored, rushing touchdowns, passing touchdowns and points scored.