Tennessee coach Josh Heupel with $9M/yr extension
The head coach salary market has really reset in the last 2 years. Wonder what the new Harbaugh contract will be. Maybe Santa had to step in because Warde can't count that high.
January 24th, 2023 at 2:19 PM ^
I graduated from UCF during the Heupel years. 2019 was a new QB since McKenzie Milton had that horrible leg injury. Milton was the golden boy, and you didn't go a second without it being talked about. 2019 lost 3 games by a combined 7 points with a true freshman QB in Dillon Gabriel (now at Oklahoma). 2020 replaced OC, and covid year which screwed everyone up. Also had like a dozen people site during 2020 due to covid.
January 24th, 2023 at 7:28 PM ^
And RichRod had golden years too. RichRod had a better resume coming out of W. Virginia than Heupel currently does.
January 24th, 2023 at 2:22 PM ^
It has definitely become extremely inflated. TN had a great year due to Hooker. So far, none of these massive knee-jerk long term deals are working out for any of the schools.
January 24th, 2023 at 2:48 PM ^
USC is pretty happy.
January 24th, 2023 at 3:39 PM ^
alum96, I'd argue that deal was a little bit more of an educated risk. Riley went 55-10 in five years at Oklahoma. A pretty good track record of success at a P5 school that one could extrapolate to the next stop in his career.
January 24th, 2023 at 2:45 PM ^
Now compare to what Tucker has done as a HC and you can figure it out. The bad year was COVID year. Throw that out. TN has also been in the darkness a long time. Only 3 seasons of past 14 with >7 wins.
Ishbia and the other dude created a new floor in the entire market. And yes these numbers are insane.
January 24th, 2023 at 8:49 PM ^
Harbaugh definitely is worth 12-15 mil. He earned it.
But there needs to be a poison NFL buyout to pay that price. You have to put a ring on that finger if you expect him not to slow dance with the NFL every year.
January 24th, 2023 at 2:16 PM ^
Are they paying him because he has a passing resemblance to young Phillip Fulmer?
January 24th, 2023 at 2:19 PM ^
I dont get it. Everyone wants Harbaugh to sign a long term deal to be the coach here yet every year they want him to get a new contract. 
January 24th, 2023 at 3:47 PM ^
I feel like Harbaugh is all in for 2023. It's win it all now with how stacked we are and only 2 wins needed in Final 4 CFB.
Do you tear up the soon to be revealed contract if he's 37-3 over his last 40 games even if he's 0-3 in the playoffs? What's the point of a long-term contract if he continues to use the NFL for leverage and we get minimal recruiting/portal bump from skill position players?
January 24th, 2023 at 2:27 PM ^
Can't believe how successful Bobby Hill became coming from such humble beginnings. Pops must be proud.
January 24th, 2023 at 2:39 PM ^
So I guess Jimbo Fisher's eleventy bajillion dollar buyout or the $15 million that Nebraska is paying Scott Frost or the $17 million that Florida State is still paying Willie Taggart just for not showing up to work haven't given any pause to the powers that be. People who are in charge of things are just in charge of them for no apparent reason.
January 24th, 2023 at 2:42 PM ^
The head coach salary market has really reset in the last 2 years.
Dumb question maybe: Does the money go to the coach or does it go to some sort of bag? I thought one of the consequences of NIL was supposed to be coaches get less, not more, because you can buy talent more directly these days.
January 24th, 2023 at 2:47 PM ^
Jimmy Sexton and his ilk would never allow ADs to get away with paying coaches less due to NIL. If anything, they'll argue that coaches deserve even more now than they did before since recruiting is more competitive now than it was in the pre-NIL era.
January 24th, 2023 at 2:48 PM ^
It goes to the coaches. Saban is compensated very well despite his players being paid even before NIL. Elite coaches will always get their money.
January 24th, 2023 at 2:42 PM ^
Makes sense. They have been in the darkness a long time churning through coaches and Heupel seems to be the true QB whisperer.
January 24th, 2023 at 3:20 PM ^
Well, Tennesee did win their conference, have a 23-3 record in the last two years and beat the #2 team in the country at home - so a 10 year renewal makes sense.
January 24th, 2023 at 3:31 PM ^
Certainly looks like a better move than giving Tucker a zillion dollars, but Heupel is still relatively unproven. Lots of guys have done alright at UCF. Let's see what he does after a few years at Tennessee - that high powered offense had a lot of help from Hyatt and Hooker. Both of which will be gone next year I believe
January 24th, 2023 at 3:35 PM ^
And yet he still makes less than Mel Tucker, whose salary is somehow closer to Nick Saban than to Jim Harbaugh. I believe that contract is known as an albatross.
January 24th, 2023 at 4:30 PM ^
Any relation to Mott the Heupel?
I'll show myself out.
January 24th, 2023 at 5:12 PM ^
hard to say, but their recruiting rankings seems to indicate that he is making some headway with all the young dudes
January 24th, 2023 at 8:54 PM ^
Well played Wendy, All The Way From Memphis.
January 24th, 2023 at 10:57 PM ^
Nice. Just out of curiosity, are you still stealing clothes from Marks and Sparks?
January 24th, 2023 at 6:03 PM ^
Feels like 5 years $8-9MM annually is entry level for Power 5 good coaches; you want elite, it’s $10MM+ and some real term. Tuck and Jimbo are the outliers there.
January 24th, 2023 at 6:21 PM ^
He seems to have Tennessee pointed in the right direction, but I’ll be curious how much he’ll be able to accomplish with having to share a division with Georgia.
Georgia is the new Alabama and Kirby Smart isn’t even 50 yet. Maybe this is diluted a bit with the upcoming playoff expansion but he’s still sharing a division with a superpower that is the class of college football. They are likely not going anywhere for the next 10-15 years.
Huepel may continue producing great teams in Knoxville, but it’s hard to see them surpassing Georgia anytime soon.
January 24th, 2023 at 8:37 PM ^
Classic Tennessee move. Do something decent and overreact.
It probably went something like this:
AD talking to President: We did something good in football this year, so let’s blow the bank on the coach.
President responds: Great idea, I’ll call MSU for some pointers!
January 24th, 2023 at 9:51 PM ^
Huepel seems like a good coach....but you have to imagine harbaugh is above this pay day, right?
January 25th, 2023 at 10:56 AM ^
I live near Knoxville and have a son who goes to UT. Making $9M here is like making $12M in SoCal, NY or even Nashville. With TN being one of not too many states having no income taxes and the lower cost of living here, Josh is doing OK for himself and his fam.
January 25th, 2023 at 1:10 PM ^
Rumor on the street is Ohio State fan stole it because that’s the way only Ohio State D can catch Blake.