When you see coaches and their teams celebrating, it’s normally because of their hard work and success paying off. However, this success also comes with a larger payout for the coaches, and that was seen firsthand with Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson.
Danielson took over as interim head coach for the Boise State college football team when Andy Avalos was fired. Less than one month later, Danielson was named the 12th head coach in Boise State history. Danielson has shown in his short time he has the ability to lead a team to winning some big games, and even made the playoffs.
What’s Spencer Danielson’s Salary?
College football coaches nationwide have a ton of performance-based bonuses in their contracts. Thanks to Boise State’s historic 2024-25 season, the coaching staff is set for a very nice payday. The Broncos won 12 of their 13 games, won the Mountain West Championship, and qualified for the College Football Playoffs.
Bonuses are awarded as a percentage of each coach’s national salary. The better a coach does, the better a team does, and the more likely they are to get some good money coming to them in bonuses. However, bonuses are also based on a coach’s salary, and for this past season, Danielson’s bonuses were based on his salary.
Each coach also earns between 3% and 6% for the football team’s Academic Progress Rate. This is a measurement that is calculated by the NCAA to encourage schools to keep their athletes performing well in school and on course to graduate.
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— On3 (@On3sports) February 19, 2025
In his first year as the Broncos full-time head coach, Danielson is reaping the financial benefits of an incredibly successful season. His base salary in 20224 was $1.1 million, and that raises by $100,000 each season until his contract expires on February 28th, 2029.
Danielson has accrued quite a few bonuses, too, in his time so far with Boise State:
- Team wins 6th conference game against a Mountain West opponent: 1% ($11,000)
- Team wins 7th conference game against a Mountain West opponent: 1% ($11,000)
- Team wins 8th conference game against a Mountain West opponent 2% ($22,000)
- Team participates in the conference championship game: 4% ($44,000)
- Team wins conference championship game: 6% ($66,000)
The success of Boise State this season brought Danielson a number of bonuses. Their excellent conference play and winning eight conference games against a Mountain West opponent is a large sum of where his bonuses came from, along with making and winning the conference championship game.
Danielson will also earn bonuses based on Boise State’s participation in the playoffs. The bonus of receiving a first-round bye and being in the quarterfinals was 10%, which equates to $110,000, but that can rise should a team keep winning.
It would go up to 12% for making the semifinals, 16% for participating in the championship game, and if Boise State won the National Championship, he’d get a 20% bonus.
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Last but not least, Danielson earned a 2% bonus ($22,000) for being named Mountain West Coach of the Year and an additional 2% ($22,000) for being named American Football Coaches Association Regional Coach of the Year.
Counting the regular-season bonuses with the guaranteed 10% College Football Playoffs bonus, Danielson has netted $308,000 for the 2024-25 season. He had the potential to earn up to $418,000, but Boise State failed to get out of the quarterfinals when they fell to the Penn State Nittany Lions.
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