How much money each postseason game is worth to Nick Saban, Alabama football assistants

Alabama football coaches have more at stake than pride and satisfaction from achievement in the postseason.

There are financial incentives to win.

Each coach has incentive bonuses built into his contract. Nick Saban, of course, has the most and the highest amount. For example, he already will take home $75,000 – on top of his salary – no matter what happens when No. 2 Alabama (11-1, 7-1 SEC) faces No. 1 Georgia (12-0, 8-0) on Saturday in the SEC Championship Game. If Alabama wins, that number jumps to $125,000.

Saban has other bonuses available, but as a starting point, he will make $8.7 million from his base salary ($275,000) plus talent fees ($8.425 million) from March 1, 2021 to February 28, 2022.

Here's a breakdown of how much each game is worth to each coach. The Sugar Bowl is listed because it is the most likely destination if Alabama does not reach the College Football Playoff.

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Nick Saban

Position: Head Coach

Base salary: $275,000 (talent fees in his contract are what make him country's highest-paid coach in annual compensation this season)

SEC Championship Game appearance: $75,000

SEC Championship Game win: $125,000

Sugar Bowl appearance: $200,000

CFP semifinal appearance: $400,000

CFP national championship appearance: $600,000

CFP national championship win: $800,000

Max game incentives: $925,000

Notes: Saban either gets the money from appearing in the SEC Championship Game or winning it, not both. So if Alabama beats Georgia, he earns $125,000. If not, $75,000. Saban also can't get more than one of the other game-related bonuses. So, if Alabama wins the national championship, he gets the $800,000 plus the SEC Championship Game bonus. And unlike the assistant coaches, his performance incentives are not based on percentages.

Assistants

Assistant coaches can receive two of the game-related performance bonuses. One from appearing in the SEC Championship Game and the other from the best finish. So if Alabama appears in the Sugar Bowl, assistants will receive that bonus. Or, if Alabama wins the national championship, assistants will get that bonus. Bonuses are calculated based on set percentages that are all the same for each assistant.

Bill O'Brien

Position: Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks

Base salary: $1.1 million

SEC Championship Game appearance: $44,000

SEC Championship Game win: N/A

Sugar Bowl appearance: $154,000

CFP semifinal appearance: $154,000

CFP national championship appearance: $176,000

CFP national championship win: $198,000

Max game incentives: $242,000

Pete Golding

Position: Defensive coordinator/inside linebackers

Base salary: $1.5 million

SEC Championship Game appearance: $60,000

SEC Championship Game win: N/A

Sugar Bowl appearance: $210,000

CFP semifinal appearance: $210,000

CFP national championship appearance: $240,000

CFP national championship win: $250,000

Max game incentives: $310,000

Notes: His bonus from a national championship win should be higher, but all assistants can't earn more than $250,000 in bonuses from the bowl/CFP section of the contract. Otherwise, that number would be $270,000 for Golding if Alabama wins the national championship.

Holmon Wiggins

Position: Assistant head coach of offense/wide receivers

Base salary: $575,000

SEC Championship Game appearance: $23,000

SEC Championship Game win: N/A

Sugar Bowl appearance: $80,500

CFP semifinal appearance: $80,500

CFP national championship appearance: $92,000

CFP national championship win: $103,500

Max game bonuses: $126,500

Drew Svoboda

Position: Special teams coordinator/tight ends

Base salary: $450,000

SEC Championship Game appearance: $18,000

SEC Championship Game win: N/A

Sugar Bowl appearance: $63,000

CFP semifinal appearance: $63,000

CFP national championship appearance: $72,000

CFP national championship win: $81,000

Max game bonuses: $99,000

Doug Marrone

Position: Offensive line

Base salary: $755,000

SEC Championship Game appearance: $30,200

SEC Championship Game win: N/A

Sugar Bowl appearance: $105,700

CFP semifinal appearance: $105,700

CFP national championship appearance: $120,800

CFP national championship win: $135,900

Max game bonuses: $166,100

Robert Gillespie

Position: Running backs

Base salary: $535,000

SEC Championship Game appearance: $21,400

SEC Championship Game win: N/A

Sugar Bowl appearance: $74,900

CFP semifinal appearance: $74,900

CFP national championship appearance: $85,600

CFP national championship win: $96,300

Max game bonuses: $117,700

Charles Kelly

Position: Associate defensive coordinator/safeties

Base salary: $825,000

SEC Championship Game appearance: $33,000

SEC Championship Game win: N/A

Sugar Bowl appearance: $115,500

CFP semifinal appearance: $115,500

CFP national championship appearance: $132,000

CFP national championship win: $148,500

Max game bonuses: $181,500

Sal Sunseri

Position: Outside linebackers

Base salary: $695,000

SEC Championship Game appearance: $27,800

SEC Championship Game win: N/A

Sugar Bowl appearance: $97,300

CFP semifinal appearance: $97,300

CFP national championship appearance: $111,200

CFP national championship win: $125,100

Max game bonuses: $152,900

Freddie Roach

Position: Defensive line

Base salary: $720,000

SEC Championship Game appearance: $28,800

SEC Championship Game win: N/A

Sugar Bowl appearance: $100,800

CFP semifinal appearance: $100,800

CFP national championship appearance: $115,200

CFP national championship win: $129,600

Max game bonuses: $158,400

Jay Valai

Position: Cornerbacks

Base salary: $525,000

SEC Championship Game appearance: $21,000

SEC Championship Game win: N/A

Sugar Bowl appearance: $73,500

CFP semifinal appearance: $73,500

CFP national championship appearance: $84,000

CFP national championship win: $94,500

Max game bonuses: $115,500

Steve Berkowitz of USA TODAY contributed to this report.

Contact Alabama reporter Nick Kelly: nkelly@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_NickKelly

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: How much each postseason game is worth to Nick Saban, Alabama assistants