Nick Saban retired as arguably the greatest college football coach of all time. Unsurprisingly, the former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach had the salary to match as one of the highest paid in college football.
Prior to his retirement, what did his contract look like, what salary did Saban earn for the 2023 season, and what is the net worth of the former Alabama head coach?
Nick Saban’s Salary and Contract in 2023
In an attempt to keep the most successful coach in college football tied to Tuscaloosa, Alabama gave Saban an eight-year contract extension in August 2022 that would have taken him through the 2029 college football season if he hadn’t retired following the end of the 2023 campaign.
Saban commanded a salary of $10.7 million for the 2022 season, and unlike most coaches’ contracts, that base figure didn’t rise for the 2023 campaign. That might sound a little dubious — even unfair — for someone of his caliber, but let me explain further.
Under the terms of his last contract as the Alabama head coach, Saban commanded a base salary of just $305,000. This amount would have remained stable throughout the course of the eight-year extension signed in 2022. His retention fee of $800,000 was also reportedly stable through the 2025 season.
So, Saban had a stable salary of $1,105,000 each year. However, the Alabama head coach made the bulk of his salary through something called a talent fee. For 2022 and 2023, that fee was $9,595,000, which is why his 2023 salary matched his 2022 amount.
If Saban had remained the Alabama head coach for the 2024 season, that talent fee was set to increase by $400,000 each year, meaning that in 2024, Saban would have commanded a minimum salary of $11.1 million.
Saban’s Net Worth
As a result of receiving a contract extension and salary boost in 2022, Saban’s net worth at the time of his retirement was $93.2 million. That equates to $13,142,857 for each national title he’s delivered for the Crimson Tide.
Under his last contract as the Alabama head coach, Saban had an extensive rewards package that could’ve add up to $1.1 million to his base salary for the most successful season possible for the program.
Winning the SEC Championship, as he did in the 2023 college football season, netted the Alabama head coach $125,000. Taking the Crimson Tide to the College Football National Championship and winning it would’ve added $800,000 to Saban’s salary. Winning the SEC Coach of the Year would’ve added another $25,000, while securing National Coach of the Year could’ve netted another $50,000.
Excellence on the football field was always expected for Saban, with anything short of a title game appearance being considered a failure. However, there’s also academic achievement to consider. Saban received a salary boost of $100,000 if the Crimson Tide’s graduation rate was among the top four SEC teams.
You also have to factor in additional allowances and perks that were a part of Saban’s final contract when calculating his net worth. Alabama paid for a country club membership, 25 hours of personal flight time, two cars, and a plethora of home game ticket options for the team’s long-tenured head coach.
Finally, while he was the highest-paid coach in college football, Saban understood that the salary landscape was ever-changing. As a result, there was a particular clause in his contract to make sure that he remained one of the highest-paid coaches in the sport up until he retired. It is unclear if any of those perks will remain now that he has left the football field.
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Under the terms of his 2022 contract, Saban met with the university every February to ascertain the average salary of the five highest-paid coaches in the county. They also averaged out the salary of the three highest-paid SEC head coaches. If Saban’s salary fell below either, he received a raise to match the highest.
Unsurprisingly, he’s as shrewd a businessman as he was a master tactician in the locker room and manipulator of the media. It’s just another part of the make-up of the man that led him to be the best head coach in all of college football.
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