7 Highest Paid Group Of Five College Football Coaches

College football coaching salaries are continuing to grow as the race to secure national titles wages on. Those at the top of the Power Four are paid handsomely for their services.

The sport’s top earners make well over $10 million annually. That is the cost of doing business with championship pedigree leaders.

Those at the Group of Five level don’t make nearly as much as college football’s highest paid coaches. Some are on par, however with many of their Power Four counterparts.

Highest paid Group of Five college football coaches.

Location and success play massive roles in G5 pay rates. It’s imperative that these programs open up their wallets in order to keep head coaches from walking away for bigger jobs.

There are a handful of G5 schools that can compete with the P4 in terms of coaching pay. Here, we’ll list seven of the highest paid college football coaches at the Group of Five level.

Jamey Chadwell

Salary: $5.93 million

Chadwell has been at Liberty since 2023 after spending five seasons at Coastal Carolina. He’s gone 24-9 in his time with the Flames. That output includes a 13-1 mark in his debut.

Things have dipped a bit since Year 1. Liberty is 11-8 over its last 19 games. Still, Chadwell remains the highest paid college football coach in the Group of Five.

At nearly $6 million, his annual salary is higher than 18 coaches from the ACC, SEC, Big 10 and Big 12.

Dan Mullen

Salary: $3.5 million

There is a significant drop off after Chadwell. The next closest coach is nearly $2.5 million behind.

Mullen is well-known in the college football coaching ranks. He’s held high-profile jobs at both Florida and Mississippi State. Now, he finds himself at UNLV.

Mullen is in Year 1 of his tenure, where he has the Runnin’ Rebels off to an impressive 6-1 start. That includes a huge upset of UCLA. He’s more than earned his paycheck thus far.

Jon Sumrall

Salary: around $3 million

Sumrall’s salary at Tulane is not public. With that being said, it is believed to be close to $3 million annually. That price tag would make sense given performance.

Under Sumrall’s leadership, the Green Wave is 15-6. That includes a 6-1 start to the 2025 campaign in which it hopes to reach the College Football Playoff.

Combined with his previous stint at Troy, Sumrall has a career mark of 38-10 across four seasons. He appeared in a conference title game in his Tulane debut after back-to-back Sun Belt championships with his former employer.

Alex Golesh

Salary: $2.5 million

Golesh is the fourth-highest paid college football coach in the Group of Five. He currently makes more than College Football Playoff participant Rhett Lashlee.

He’s earned it, too. Golesh has built South Florida into a competitor, evidenced by an upset of the Florida Gators earlier this year. He currently has the Bulls sitting at 6-1 while boasting an overall record of 20-13 across three seasons.

Jeff Traylor

Salary: $2.5 million

Traylor, too, makes more than Lashlee at SMU. He sits even with Golesh at $2.5 million yearly. The UTSA leader has proven his coaching prowess over the last few seasons with the Roadrunners.

Traylor is 49-24 as a head coach. That includes a 12-2 campaign in 2021 in which he knocked off Illinois. As a result, he’s been linked to past openings at Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and TCU.

This year, he’s taken a bit of a step back as the Roadrunners are just 3-4. He’ll look to prove his worth as the year continues on.

Jeff Monken

Salary: $2.4 million

Monken has been at Army for over a decade. In that time, he’s built the Black Knights into an annual competitor.

Monken is 85-61 across 12 seasons. He posted a 12-2 mark last year while beating Tulane in the American Conference Championship.

Monken is right on par with the lowest paid Power Four coach. While he’s off to a 3-4 start in 2025, he showed his ability to pull off an upset with a surprise win over Kansas State.

Ryan Silverfield

Salary: $2.25 million

Technically, Silverfield makes less that the lowest paid college football coach in the Power Five, but only by about $150,000. Memphis is one of the premiere Group of Five stops. The Tigers’ head coach is paid as such.

Silverfield is 48-21 across six seasons with the program. He is a perfect 4-0 in the postseason. After back-to-back 10-win campaigns, he hopes the next appearance is in the College Football Playoff.

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