Even as the College Football Playoff takes shape, mega-contracts for college football coaches are dominating headlines in the sport.
The mere hint of coaches like James Franklin of Penn State and Michigan State’s Mel Tucker emerging as candidates for other openings have prompted their employers to fork over lucrative deals pushing nine-figure sums spread over 10-plus years. In other cases, powerhouses such as LSU are giving coaches like Brian Kelly monster compensation packages to lure them away from the Notre Dames of the world. The University of Oklahoma saw its coach, Lincoln Riley, poached away in the last few days by USC with arguably the most extravagant deal of all.