Where does Lincoln Riley rank among college football’s highest-paid coaches?

Oklahoma knows what it takes to keep great coaches in Norman. For starters, money is at the top of the list. Current Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley is no stranger to the compensation that comes with being Oklahoma’s head coach. In a recent look at college football’s highest-paid coaches from USA TODAY Sports, Riley ranks in the top five.

Nick Saban is at the top of the list and with good reason. He’s the best coach of the best program over the last 10 years. The success speaks for itself, and for Alabama, none of their other sports programs bring in the revenue or success that football does, so Saban being compensated as such makes a lot of sense.

Ed Orgeron, coach of the LSU Tigers, ranks second. Orgeron’s Tigers decimated Oklahoma a few years ago in the Peach Bowl on their way to the program’s fourth national title. It’s been a struggle since that point, as LSU finished with five wins last year and have just three in 2021. Rumors continue to swirl about the security of Orgeron’s job despite his large salary.

David Shaw of Stanford and Dabo Swinney of Clemson are the last two coaches above Riley, and both make eight million dollars apiece. Riley slots in at number five with a salary of 7.6 million dollars. He recently signed a six-year deal with Oklahoma in 2020 worth 45.2 million dollars, and his staff also received extensions and raises as well courtesy of the Oklahoma Board of Regents.

Riley will earn up to eight million dollars because of stay bonuses this season unless he decides to bolt for the NFL, which is considered unlikely. The major NFL franchises he was attached to have seemingly stabilized and found their head coaches for the foreseeable future.

With the exception of David Shaw, Riley is the only coach in the top five in salary to not have won a national title. It’s the only trophy in Riley’s cabinet that is missing and the only thing he probably cares about.

Oklahoma is in the midst of an undefeated season and also a midseason quarterback battle. Riley will have to settle that first, but with how the college football landscape looks, this year may be the best window of opportunity for Oklahoma to break through and get Riley’s first national title and Oklahoma’s eighth.