Bill Belichick is going to UNC: where does his salary rank among other coaches

Bill Belichick becoming the North Carolina Tar Heels head football coach has put the salaries of other college football coaches in the spotlight.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said Wednesday it has locked Belichick, who coached the NFL’s New England Patriots for 24 seasons, in as the Tar Heels head coach for five years. His deal with UNC is worth $50 million over that timeframe, Outkick reported. 

While his deal is sizable, there are other college head coaches that pull in big bucks.

BILL BELICHICK AGREES TO BECOME UNC’S NEXT HEAD FOOTBALL COACH

The five head coaches with the biggest 2024 salaries lead teams that play in three conferences – the SEC, ACC and the Big 10, per Sports Illustrated and USA Today. They reportedly are collectively making over $55.6 million this year.

Those coaches include: 

Kirby Smart

Smart joined the University of Georgia’s football program as head coach in 2015. He is receiving $13.28 million for coaching the Bulldogs this year, USA Today reported. The team notched Smart’s 100th win as their head coach in October. 

Dabo Swinney

Swinney’s pay for coaching the Clemson Tigers clocks in at $11.13 million for 2024, according to Sports Illustrated and USA Today. The Tigers have won 170 games and lost 43 under his leadership in 16 seasons, per the team’s website. 

Steve Sarkisian

The University of Texas at Austin credits Sarkisian with having “steadfastly returned the Texas football program back to prominence.” He has almost 11 years of head coaching under his belt, with this current season being his fourth leading the Longhorns. In 2024, he is getting paid $10.6 million, Sports Illustrated reported. 

Lincoln Riley

Riley began his University of Southern California head coaching job in 2022. His pay for this year is reportedly $10.04 million. He came to the Trojans program from the University of Oklahoma. 

Ryan Day

Day, the head coach of Ohio State University’s Buckeyes, will make $10.02 million this year, per Sports Illustrated and USA Today. In 2019, he became the “first Ohio State coach in 40 years to be named Big Ten Conference Coach of the year,” Ohio State University said on its website. They are currently ranked sixth in college football.

Belichick on building UNC’s team

UNC tapping Belichick as their head coach comes about a year after he stopped working with the New England Patriots. 

Belichick said during a Thursday afternoon press conference that he will be “here to teach, develop and build a program in the way that I believe in” at UNC.

UNC’s record currently stands at six wins and six losses this season.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to build and develop young student athletes, young men, and prepare them for their life either in the NFL or professionally, but the lessons they learn will be professional lessons,” he said. “They’ll be pros in all areas.”

Belichick also talked about how he will define success at UNC.

“Success is a day by day process. The only thing we can really do anything about is today, tomorrow, what’s immediately in front of us, so take advantage of every opportunity we have to build the team, improve the team, get better and keep stringing a lot of good days together and the results will come,” he said.