Who is the highest-paid assistant coach in college football? Salaries in college sports have exploded, with football players and coaches seeing the biggest spike in what they earn each year. As a result, each season sets a new bar for the highest-paid coordinators in college football.
With the 2025 season underway, here are the 10 highest-paid college football coordinators.
1. Jim Kowles, Penn State Nittany Lions DC – $3.1M salary
Penn State Nittany Lions defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is the highest-paid assistant coach in college football. After winning a national championship as the play-caller for an Ohio State Buckeyes defense that allowed the fewest points per game (12.9) and the fewest total yards per game (254.6) in the FBS last season, Penn State opened up the checkbook to land Knowles. The Nittany Lions signed Knowles to a three-year deal in January with a $3.1 million average annual salary. Knowles is also the first coordinator in college football history to make $3-plus million per season.
Related: Biggest College Football Coaches Buyouts 2025
2. Pete Golding, Ole Miss Rebels DC – $2.55 million salary
With a $2.5 million salary becoming the new salary baseline for the highest-paid college football coordinators, the Ole Miss Rebels raised the bar a bit with the Pete Golding contract. In August, the school signed Golding to a three-year extension that came with a $2.55 million base salary in 202,5 along with an average annual value of $2.61 million. Golding will receive a $50,000 raise in 2026 ($2.6 million salary) and make $2.7 million in the final year of the deal. He’s the second-highest-paid assistant coach in college football this season, but will drop down the list a few spots in 2026 due to the smaller pay bump.
3. Blake Baker, LSU Tigers DC – $2.5 million salary
After being saddled by defenses that cost them games, the LSU Tigers splurged in 2024, poaching Blake Baker from Mizzou and making him one of the highest-paid coordinators in college football. LSU signed Baker to a three-year deal, at an average annual value of $2.5 million per season. Before Baker’s arrival, LSU’s defense allowed 28 PPG and 416.3 total yards per game in 2023. In his first season as defensive play-caller, the Tigers allowed just 24.3 PPG and 364.4 total yards per game.
Related: LSU Game Today, Tigers Football Schedule 2025
4. Wink Martindale, Michigan Wolverines DC – $2.5 million salary
Michigan Wolverines defensive coordinator Wink Martindale is earning a $2.5 million salary in 2025, a $200,000 increase from his salary in his first year with the program. Martindale had been coaching in the NFL from 2004-2023, with stints as a defensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos, Baltimore Ravens and the New York Giants. During his first season as the Wolverines’ defensive coordinator, the team allowed just 19.9 points per game (14th among Power 4 teams) and just 307 total yards per game. Martindale will get a pay bump next season, receiving a $2.7 million salary in 2026.
Related: NFL Defense Rankings 2025
5. D.J. Durkin, Auburn Tigers DC – $2.5 million salary
After being fired by the Maryland Terrapins in 2018, following the death of Jordan McNair, for findings of a culture that allowed abusive conduct, D.J. Durkin bounced around from Ole Miss to Texas A&M and then was hired by Hugh Freeze as the Auburn Tigers defensive coordinator. After a single-season turnaround by Auburn’s defense, Auburn rewarded Durkin with a contract extension, paying him a $2.5 million base salary in 2025. The three-year extension has an average annual value of $2.75 million.
Related: Highest-Paid College Football Coaches 2025
6. Mike Denbrock, Notre Dame Fighting Irish OC – $2.1 million salary
Mike Denbrock is the highest-paid offensive coordinator in college football. At a time when many of the top offensive play-callers in college football are now head coaches, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are surrounding Marcus Freeman with a great offensive coordinator. Denbrock is a college lifer whose coaching career began in 1986 as a graduate assistant at Grand Valley State. Almost four decades later, he’s the architect of a Fighting Irish offense that went to the national championship game last season after averaging the 10th-most points (36.1 PPG) in college football.
Related: Notre Dame Game Today, Fighting Irish Football Schedule 2025
7. Phil Parker, Iowa Hawkeyes DC – $2.052 million salary
Phil Parker has served as the Iowa Hawkeyes defensive coordinator since 2012, winning the Broyles Award in 2023 and sending countless defensive standouts to the NFL. Parker’s salary in 2025 is reported at $1.9 million, just narrowly topping Texas Longhorns defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski ($1.9 million) and Clemson Tigers defensive coordinator Tom Allen ($1.9 million) for 10th place among the highest-paid coordinators in college football this season.
8. Glenn Schumann, Georgia Bulldogs DC – $2.003 million salary
While a majority of the money invested into the Georgia Bulldogs’ program goes to head coach Kirby Smart and the players, they still have one of the highest-paid coordinators in college football. Glenn Schumann’s salary has been steadily rising, most recently reported at $2.003 million for the 2024 season. That came following an extension he signed that summer, with the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator among a number of assistants who received pay raises and new deals. Schumann is under contract with Georgia through 2026.
9. D’Anton Lynn, USC Trojans DC – $2 million salary
The USC Trojans were haunted by their defense for years before the hiring of D’Anton Lynn. He’s also one of the fastest-rising assistant coaches in college football. A former linebacker at Penn State, Lynn learned the ropes of coaching on the defensive side in the NFL with the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Chargers, Houston Texans and the Baltimore Ravens. He got his first shot as a play-caller with the UCLA Bruins in 2023 — 18.4 PPG and 301.5 total YPG allowed — before Lincoln Riley poached him.
Taking over a Trojans’ defense that allowed 34.4 PPG and 432.8 total yards per game the previous season, Lynn cut that to 24.1 PPG and 377.1 total YPG allowed in his first season as USC’s defensive coordinator. The program then rewarded him with a new contract extension in January, which will have a $2.65 million AAV.
Related: USC Trojans Commits 2026
10. Tosh Lupoi, Oregon Ducks DC – $2 million salary
While Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning deservedly gets a lot of the credit for the team’s standout defense, coordinator Tosh Lupoi has also made a name for himself in recent years. The 44-year-old rose up through the coaching ranks on the Alabama Crimson Tide coaching staff (2014-’18), working his way up from defensive analyst to defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach.
He then spent three seasons in the NFL before Lanning made him one of his first hires when he became Oregon’s head coach. In 2024, the Ducks’ defense allowed just 19.4 points and 316.1 total yards per game with 40 sacks. This month, Oregon announced a series of new contracts for the entire staff, with Lupoi getting a pay bump to a $2 million base salary in 2025.
Related: Highest-Paid College Football Players 2025
