Here’s where Clemson’s Dabo Swinney ranks among salaries for FBS head coaches

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney pumps his fist to the crowd as he leaves the field after defeating Georgia Tech 14-8 in an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021, in Clemson, S.C. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
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Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is the fourth-highest paid coach in the country and highest in the ACC, according to a database released by USA Today on Thursday.

Swinney’s total pay is listed as $8,370,775, behind Stanford’s David Shaw ($8,924,683), LSU’s Ed Orgeron ($9,012,917) and Alabama’s Nick Saban ($9,753,221). A $100,000 bonus was allocated among Clemson’s staff in 2019-20 season, which was connected to the team’s academic achievement.

The next highest-paid coach in the ACC is Florida State’s Mike Norvell, whose total pay is $3,750,000 after taking a $968,750 pandemic reduction.

Had Swinney not taken a $1,250,000 total pandemic reduction, the most of any coach by $281,250, he would’ve been the second highest-paid coach in the nation after originally being scheduled to receive $9,508,575. He agreed to give up a $1 million retention payment he was supposed to receive for being the Tigers’ coach through Jan. 1, 2021 and a $250,000 supplemental pay increase that came with the start of the new contract year also on Jan. 1.

Of the information provided, Saban and Shaw were two of 24 head coaches who didn’t have any pandemic reduction in salary and of 40 who didn’t have a pandemic reduction for the contract year.

As of Dec. 1, Swinney has the second-highest buyout at $47,500,000 behind Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher, whose buyout is $95,575,000.

Wednesday marked 13 years since Swinney was announced as Clemson’s interim head coach, taking over after Tommy Bowden resigned on Oct. 13, 2008, though he later refuted that claim. In that time, Swinney has won two national championships with six consecutive College Football Playoff appearances and seven ACC championships, six of which are in a row, while recording 10 10-win seasons and 10 bowl wins with a current head-coaching record of 143-35 for a .803 winning percentage.

Clemson is currently 3-2 and will play at Syracuse at 7 p.m. Friday.