Big Red Business: Frost now second highest paid coach in the Big Ten

When it comes to trips to the bank, it appears that Nebraska’s Scott Frost is about to get lapped by Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley and maybe even Purdue’s Jeff Brohm.

Frost is in the second year of a seven-year contract that pays $5 million annually, enough to be ranked as the tenth highest-paid head football coach in the country, based on a 2018 USA Today survey, the latest available.

He’s currently the second highest-paid coach in the Big Ten, and according to a new survey, he was the 13th-highest paid head coach in all college sports at the end of 2018.

Three other college football coaches are in the $5 million club -- Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy, Illinois’ Lovie Smith, and Florida State’s Willie Taggart.

But the $5 million clubbers are likely to be surpassed on the coaching salary scale by Riley, who recently agreed to a pay bump and a contract extension that will keep him in Norman for years to come.

Riley, much like Frost, is one of college football’s hottest commodities. Since succeeding Bob Stoops as the Sooners’ head coach two seasons ago, he’s twice taken his team to the College Football Playoffs semi-final game with Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks.

Riley made $4.8 million in base salary in 2018. But shortly after his name surfaced as a possible candidate for the Cleveland Browns’ head coaching job, the university announced that he had agreed to a salary boost and contract extension.

Terms have not been made public since the contract still requires approval by Oklahoma’s board of regents.

Although the USA 2019 rankings won’t be released for some time, it should be noted that the minimum threshold for an NFL head coach is around $5 million, according to media reports. Based on how quickly Oklahoma moved to renegotiate Riley’s contract, it is likely that Riley will get that type of money and perhaps a lot more.

Last summer, Riley signed a five-year, $25 million contract extension that bumped his pay to $4.8 million from $3.8 million. If you’re keeping score, that placed him at No. 16 on USA Today’s coaching salary study. Riley made $3.1 million in 2017.

In addition, Brohm, who turned down the head coaching job at his alma mater, Louisville, is widely expected to receive a new contract with an extension and sizable salary increase, according to the Lafayette Journal & Courier.

Brohm made $3.8 million in 2018, before bonuses, and was under contract through 2024. In 2024, he was scheduled to make $4.5 million, the newspaper reported.

But according to Yahoo Sports, Purdue plans to pay Brohm about $6 million for choosing to stay in West Lafayette. If so, Brohm would become the second-highest paid coach in the conference behind Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh and ahead of Frost and Lovie Smith. Purdue has not confirmed any new contract details.

While Frost might have fallen behind Riley, as things stand now he still might retain a top-ten salary ranking because of Ohio State’s coaching change.

Former head coach Urban Meyer was drawing an annual salary of $7.6 million, second only to Alabama’s Nick Saban, who currently earns $8.3 million a year, according to USA Today’s analysis.

New Ohio State head coach Ryan Day won’t be taking home as fat a paycheck. He’ll earn only $4.5 million a year for the next five years, based on contract details reported by the Dayton Daily News.

That includes a base compensation of $850,000 a year, $2.39 million for media, promotions and public relations, $1.25 million for apparel, shoes and other equipment, $10,000 for a Coca-Cola promotional appearance and a variety of bonuses tied to team grade point average, on-field success and coaching awards.

Other perks: $1,200 monthly automobile stipend, access to private planes for recruiting and personal use, a golf club membership, and Ohio State football and basketball tickets, the Daily News reported.

If there’s one truism about college athletics, it’s that school’s won’t hesitate to roll out the dough and the perks to hire or retain head coaches.

The off-season has been lucrative for several other Big Ten conference coaches.

Among those earning a raise or contract extensions, or both:

*Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst on Friday agreed to a five-year contract renewal through Jan. 2024. He earned $3.75 million last year, and it’s unclear how much more, if any, he’ll make under his contract extension.

*Minnesota rewarded P.J. Fleck, who led the Golden Gophers to a bowl win in December, with one more year on his contract. He was hired to a five-year contract in 2017 that pays him $3.55 million.

*Maryland’s Mike Locksley signed a $2.5 million, five-year deal to become the Terrapin’s new head coach, the Baltimore Sun reported. He will receive an additional $100,000 in base pay for the second through fifth years of his contract. Additional perks include income for team performance, a monthly auto allowance of $1,500 and a road game traveling package for his wife and three children.

Locksley, who was the offensive coordinator at Alabama, replaced D.J. Durkin who was let go under fire for a practice incident that resulted in the death of a player last year. Durkin was paid a base salary of $500,000 plus $1.9 million in supplemental income.

If you’re wondering about Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald, whose name surfaced as a possible candidate for the Green Bay Packers job, he’s currently under a 10-year contract for $4.5 million in annual salary, which is more money than previously reported.

In Big 12 moves, new Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman agreed to a $2.3 million a year, six-year contract. It also calls for a $200,000 bump in salary each year. He made $300,000 at North Dakota State University.

The legendary Bill Snyder, who retired, made $3.7 million in his final season in Manhattan.

Then there’s Les Miles, who agreed to a pay cut to become head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks. His contract: $2.775 million a year for five years. Miles made $4.39 million a year at LSU. Just before he took the job at KU, Miles agreed to a $1.5 million buyout settlement of the $6.5 million LSU still owed him.

Here’s a final number: $1 million.

That’s how much in bonuses is scheduled to be awarded to Clemson’s Dabo Swinney. That includes $200,000 for defeating Notre Dame in the national semi-final game and $250,000 for winning the national title. His base salary is about $6 million.

The Quad, a New York Times sports blog, recently released its ranking of the top 25 highest paid coaches in college sports in 2019, based on annual salary and excluding bonuses.

No. 13 on the list -- Scott Frost, along with Gundy, Smith, and Taggart.

Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, was atop the list with an annual salary of $8.982 million, followed by Saban ($8.30 million), Urban Meyer (of course, make that former head coach, at $7.6 million), Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh ($7.504 million), and Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M ($7.5 million).

Rounding out the top 10: Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari ($7.45 million); Ohio State basketball coach Chris Holtmann ($7.149 million); Auburn football coach Gus Malzahn ($6.7 million); Georgia’s Kirby Smart ($6.60 million); and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney ($6.205 million). Holtmann's $7.149 salary number is a little bit misleading though because it includes his buyout payment to Butler. His actual base pay is $2.7 million in 2019.

Other conference coaches on the list: Penn State’s James Franklin (No, 18, at $4.8 million; Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz (No. 21 at $4.7 million); and Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio (No. 22 at $4.39 million).

Of the 25 highest paid college coaches, only four coached basketball, the fourth being Bill Self of Kansas (No. 20, $4.779 million).

Steve Rosen covers the business of sports for HuskerOnline.com. Questions, comments, story ideas? Reach Steve at sbrosen1030@gmail.com.