So, I was just messing around online the other day, you know, reading up on college football stuff. Georgia Bulldogs kept popping up, and then I started wondering about their coach, Kirby Smart. Like, how much dough does a guy like that actually pull in?
I figured I’d just look it up real quick. Typed something like “kirby smart salary” into the search bar. Took me a second to sift through the usual junk, but then I started seeing some actual numbers.
Finding the Big Numbers
First thing that hit me was seeing headlines calling him the highest paid coach in college football. Okay, that got my attention. Highest paid? Really?
Dug a little deeper. Found some sports finance sites, places that track contracts and stuff. They were all saying pretty much the same thing:
- He’s making over $13 million a year. One place said the average is like $13.2 million. That’s just nuts.
- Apparently, Georgia just gave him a new deal back in May 2024. Saw it mentioned a few times – a 10-year contract worth $130 million. Good grief.
Why So Much?
Then I thought, okay, why are they paying him that much? I mean, I know Georgia’s good, but still. So I kept poking around.
It started making a bit more sense when I saw his record laid out. The guy’s won a ton.
- He’s got like a 105-19 record over his time there, which is pretty impressive.
- Bagged two national championships for them.
- Won the SEC championship three times too.
So yeah, when you put it like that, I guess they figure he’s worth it. Winning those big games brings in a lot of money and attention for the school, right? Seems like they believe he delivers, so they opened up the checkbook. Big time.
I even saw a quick mention that he’d already hit like five different bonuses just this season alone. The money just keeps piling up for him.
Putting it in Perspective
It’s kinda wild when you think about it. I saw another number just for comparison – the average high school football coach in Georgia makes something like $39,000 a year. Thirty-nine thousand versus thirteen million. Huge gap there.
Anyway, that was my little rabbit hole for the afternoon. Just started with a simple question and ended up learning quite a bit about the top end of college football coaching salaries. It’s a different world, man. Definitely confirmed that Kirby Smart is doing alright for himself.
