The SEC is renowned for its deep-rooted tradition and fervor, encapsulated by the slogan, “It Just Means More.” However, this enthusiasm comes with a hefty price tag, particularly when discussing the buyouts of football coaches. These buyouts often reach staggering figures, especially when considering the top two in college football history.
LSU recently decided to part ways with Brian Kelly, a decision that cost the university a staggering $54 million. This move followed a humiliating defeat at home to Texas A&M. Kelly had been in Baton Rouge for three and a half years after signing a 10-year, $100 million contract to lead the Tigers.
During his tenure, Kelly achieved two 10-win seasons, one SEC title game appearance in 2022, and a flawless 3-0 record in bowl games. However, victories in the Citrus, ReliaQuest, and Texas Bowls against unranked opponents were far from the expectations placed upon him, particularly by LSU’s athletic director, Scott Woodward. More on Woodward shortly.
The decision to dismiss Kelly came exactly a week after Florida parted ways with Billy Napier, who left with a $21.5 million buyout. Napier’s tenure was rocky, kicking off with a 41-17 drubbing by Miami in the 2024 season opener. The Gators showed promise towards the season’s end under the leadership of freshman D.J. Lagway, but a loss to USF in Week 2 reopened old wounds. Subsequent defeats at LSU and Miami, where the Gators managed just 23 points across three games, sealed Napier’s fate. Including a loss to Georgia the previous year, Napier concluded his time at Florida with six consecutive SEC losses on the road, finishing with a record of 22-23 after a final victory over Mississippi State.
Jimbo Fisher’s name frequently comes up each fall, following his dismissal from Texas A&M in November 2023. His departure was accompanied by a record-setting $77.5 million buyout from a contract extension agreed upon two years earlier, making it the benchmark for buyouts. As such, Fisher remains a fixture in discussions during this season.
Jimbo Fisher’s buyout legacy
Scott Woodward has become a prominent figure within the SEC. He was the athletic director at Texas A&M when he successfully wooed Fisher away from Florida State in December 2017 with a 10-year, $70 million contract. Woodward, who moved to LSU in 2019, was also the one to announce Kelly’s departure from the program.
The aforementioned Scott Woodward has carved out quite a name for himself in the SEC. After all, he was the athletic director at A&M when he lured Fisher away from Florida State in December 2017, and to the tune of 10 years and $70 million. It was Woodward, who left for LSU in the spring of 2019, that announced Kelly’s firing.
There is a more than $130 million in buyouts between Fisher and Kelly. The former went 45-25 (.642) with the Aggies and the latter 34-14 (.708) with the Tigers. When figuring their respective separation pay packages, that works out to $1.72 million per win for Fisher in College Station and $1.7 million for Kelly in Baton Rouge.
The man hired to replace Fisher is doing just fine in his second season at the helm. Mike Elko’s Aggies are 8-0 and No. 3 in both polls following the dismantling of LSU in Kelly’s final game. The defensive coordinator at A&M (2017-2021) under Fisher, Elko departed for Duke and his first head-coaching gig after the 2021 season. He returned to College Station after agreeing to a six-year deal with an annual base of $7 million.
Other notable SEC buyouts this decade
Gus Malzahn | Auburn | $21.4 Million
Malzahn’s buyout was the largest at the time he was fired, which was following a 6-4 season in pandemic-disrupted 2020. That ended an eight-year run at Auburn in which he went 68-35 (.660) and took the Tigers to the BCS national title game (last-minute loss to Florida State, where he is currently employed) in his first season on the Plains. Auburn is seeking to avoid a fifth straight sub-.500 season since Malzahn’s dismissal.
FAYETTEVILLE, AR – Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn during the game between the Tigers and Arkansas Razorbacks at Razorback Stadium on October 19, 2019 in Fayetteville, AR. (Photo by Andy Altenburger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Ed Orgeron | LSU | $16.8 Million
You may recall the man Kelly succeeded at LSU had a nice post-firing compensation package, the final installment of which he was scheduled to receive this year. He went 51-20 (.718) in six seasons. Hence, the last two LSU coaches went a combined 75-34 (.688) over a 10-season stretch. More than half of Orgeron’s defeats were in his final two seasons (11-11) of 2020 and 2021, which followed the Joe Burrow-led 2019 national championship campaign.
Bryan Harsin | Auburn | $15.3 Million
The man that took over for Malzahn was gone after less than two seasons and a 9-12 mark. After going 69-19 at Boise State, Harsin arrived in 2021 and went 4-9 in SEC play. With Harsin’s firing, Auburn committed nearly $37 million in buyouts to two coaches in two years. There is much chatter concerning the job security of Harsin’s successor, Hugh Freeze, who would have similar buyout terms.
Will Muschamp | South Carolina | $12.9 Million
Not only did the Gamecocks fail to build on a nine-win 2017 season, but they bottomed out at 2-8 in 2020 with Muschamp fired after seven games. He went 28-30 in four-plus seasons in Columbia. His buyout at Florida, where he was fired prior to the end of the 2014 season, was $6.3 million.
Dan Mullen | Florida | $12 Million
The Gators’ most recent double-digit win season was under the current UNLV coach in 2019. That was the second of back-to-back such seasons as well as top 10 finishes that earned Mullen an extension. Two years later, Mullen was gone. An overtime loss at Missouri toward the end of the 2021 season dropped the Gators to 5-6 and with nine losses in their last 11 games against power conference teams. Mullen went 34-15 for a .694 winning percentage that is third best at UF among those who coached at least 25 games.
Sam Pittman | Arkansas | $8.7 Million
Fired earlier this season, all of the arrows were pointing up for Pittman following the Hogs’ Outback Bowl win over Penn State – the last playing of the bowl under the steakhouse chain’s name — to cap a nine-win season in 2021. It has since been a slippery slide southward for Arkansas. A pair of 7-6 showings that required bowl wins to get over .500 is as good as it has since been. Indeed, the Pittman-coached Razorbacks went 20-23 since the win over the Nittany Lions. While middle-of-the-pack bowls were not the desire, it is worth noting Pittman, like Kelly, went 3-0 in bowl games. Pittman had not previously been a head coach at a four-year institution.
When you figure in the buyouts of other coaches, such as Zach Arnett at Mississippi State ($4.5) and Derek Mason at Vanderbilt where he made $3.5 million in his final season coaching the Commodores in 2020, the overall total approaches a quarter of a billion dollar for the current decade.
Jeremy Pruitt is not on this list because he has not seen a penny of what would have been a $12.6 million buyout after he was fired at Tennessee following the 2020 season amid several recruiting violations. He sued the NCAA earlier this year seeking $100 million in lost wages. Pruitt went 16-19 in three seasons with the Vols.
