Proposed Bill to Curb College Football Coaches’ Salaries
The substantial salaries and buyouts of leading college football coaches have caught the attention of lawmakers in Washington.
Representative Michael Baumgartner, a Republican from Washington, recently introduced a bill known as the Correcting Opportunity and Accountability in Collegiate Employment (COACH) Act. This legislation seeks to impose limits on the salaries that college coaches can earn.
If passed, the bill would modify the Higher Education Act of 1965 to state that “the total annual compensation paid, promised, or provided to employees of the Department of Athletics shall not exceed ten times the amount of first-time full-time undergraduate tuition and required tuition fees for the most recent academic year.”
Recently, LSU dismissed their football coach Brian Kelly, leaving him with around $54 million to collect. In addition, James Franklin from Penn State is set to receive $49 million after his termination earlier this month. Florida State’s former coach, Billy Napier, is entitled to $21 million as well.
“Universities that disclose head coach contract details have amassed a staggering $1.7 billion in potential acquisition debt,” Baumgartner commented in a statement. “This season, schools appear poised to pay over $169 million to non-teaching coaches. That figure rivals the annual operating income of a top Division I program, placing it among the top 13 athletic departments by revenue. My proposal aims to put a stop to this. College sports are heavily subsidized public goods, not professional enterprises.”
Baumgartner also noted, “Even professional sports have cost controls. Salary caps work within a narrow antitrust framework acknowledged by Congress and the courts. The Coaches Act serves as a straightforward guardrail to bring reason back to the financial management of college sports. It provides a legal pathway for institutions to impose reasonable limits on coach compensation. It’s time for Congress to step in and restore order.”
Currently, Kirby Smart from Georgia tops the list as the highest-paid college football coach, earning around $13 million annually. Following him is Ohio State’s Ryan Day with a salary of $12.5 million, while Indiana’s Curt Cinetti has recently secured a contract extension that compensates him $11.6 million per year.
