The Alabama Crimson Tide officially locked up both Kalen DeBoer and Nate Oats this past week to extensions which gave each coach a raise and years added to their deal.
Greg Byrne talked about the investment the University is making in the athletic department, and it is extremely significant.
In fact, with both DeBoer and Oats vaulting into the top-five for highest paid head coaches, it makes it so that Alabama has the highest combined annual total in the two main sports in terms of coach spending.
With a combined nearly $20 million, Alabama edges out North Carolina — with head coaches Bill Belichick and Michael Malone — at just over $18 million.
Indiana, with Curt Cignetti and his new deal along with basketball coach Darian DeVries, barely edge out the wild LSU combination of Lane Kiffin and Will Wade and the Georgia combination of Kirby Smart and Mike White.
Rounding out the list are Texas (Steve Sarkisian and Sean Miller) at No. 6, USC (Lincoln Riley and Eric Musselman) at No. 7, Clemson (Dabo Swinney and Brad Brownell) at No. 8, Kansas (Lance Leipold and Bill Self) at No. 9, and Tennessee (Josh Heupel and Rick Barnes) at No. 10.
While it is certainly a huge amount of money to spend on two coaches, not many programs can boast an elite coach in both major sports, and Alabama is betting big that securing the DeBoer and Oats combination is going to pay off in a big way down the line.
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.
