LSU made headlines Wednesday when a records request revealed that new offensive coordinator Matt Canada will make $1.5 million per year. Add that to defensive coordinator Dave Aranda’s $1.8 million annual salary, and the Tigers are paying their coordinators a pretty penny – actually a lot of pennies – at $3.3 million annually.

It’s no longer about just the head coach’s salary, assistant pay spending has become its own arms race in the SEC. Sports Illustrated writer Andy Staples recently put together what he dubbed “the best coaching staff money can buy” for college football. He used coaches in their current positions, so no getting Kirby Smart back as a defensive coordinator or Will Muschamp as a defensive backs coach.

If a new team from scratch, Moneybags State, were joining the SEC and wanted the best head coach and all the top assistants what would the best SEC coaching staff (of current conference coaches under Staples’ rules) look like if money were not a concern?

Not surprisingly, a lot of these coaches are from the perennial powers. To match the current pay of the coaches below, Moneybags State is looking at spending at least $12,685,000, and that’s before raises, which this unproven newcomer will have to offer to lure these coaches away.

With 10 coaches needing raises, it’s safe to say Moneybags State is looking to spend more than $14 million.

Head coach: Nick Saban, Alabama (current salary: $6.9 million)

This one is quite obvious. For better or worse, this is the conference of Saban. If you can’t beat him, try hiring one of his disciples – at least that’s been the strategy of Tennessee, Florida (twice) and Georgia. Winning isn’t enough if you can’t beat the almighty Saban, as Les Miles (and to a degree, Mark Richt) found out. When money’s not an issue, you find a way to get the man himself.

Saban’s record in 15 years of coaching SEC football is 162-35. Name your price, Nick.

Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks: Dan Enos, Arkansas (current salary: $750,000)

This was a surprisingly tricky pick with many high-profile options off the board.

Lane Kiffin has moved back into the head coaching ranks. Canada and Steve Sarkisian certainly have impressive resumes, but we haven’t seen how either will look going against SEC defenses week in, week out. Tennessee and Auburn, on the other hand, are currently looking for offensive coordinators. Florida has won the SEC East the past two seasons despite posting offenses ranked nationally in the triple digits.

Texas A&M’s Noel Mazzone would have been a fine pick here, but on this fictional team, we’re going with Enos. The Arkansas offensive coordinator left a head coaching job at Central Michigan to become the Razorbacks play-caller and he’s drawn interest from other college and NFL teams after two years in Fayetteville. Moneybags State will make him an offer he can’t refuse.

The season after losing Brandon Allen (3,440 passing yards, 30 TD) and Alex Collins (1,577 rushing yards, 20 TD), the Hogs’ new starters Austin Allen (3,430 passing yards, 25 TD) and Rawleigh Williams III (1,360 rushing yards, 12 TD) helped show that Enos knows what he’s doing.

Wide receivers/recruiting coordinator: Billy Napier, Alabama (current salary: $350,000)

While Texas A&M Aaron Moorehead is an up-and-coming assistant to watch at the position, and LSU had its reasons to spend $550,000 to pull Dameyune Craig away from his alma mater, Auburn, this staff is going with the Saban retread Napier.

The former Clemson offensive coordinator was one of the early participants in “Saban rehab,” taking an analyst position at Alabama before following former Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Jim McElwain to Colorado State. After a year at CSU, Napier was briefly hired by FSU as its recruiting coordinator. That only lasted a month, as Saban brought Napier back to Tuscaloosa to fill the vacancy left by Mike Groh’s departure for the NFL.

Receivers coaches are traditionally strong recruiters, and that’s what we’ll have Napier in charge of (like the Seminoles wanted to do). The coach who helped develop Amari Cooper and Calvin Ridley will certainly deliver Enos some blue-chip pass-catchers.

Running backs: Tim Horton, Auburn (current salary: $325,000)

For what it’s worth, Staples picked LSU’s Jabbar Juluke, and maybe I should have, too. It’s hard to argue against LSU in terms of the ground game, but Juluke is somewhat of an SEC newbie and there are other more experienced options out there.

For one, there’s Alabama’s Burton Burns, a constant on Saban’s staff since 2007 whose resume speaks for itself having coached Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson, Eddie Lacy, T.J. Yeldon, Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake into the NFL.  Moneybags State is a little concerned, however, with how much gas is left in the tank for the 64-year-old Burns.

In Horton, we’re going with the SEC assistant who has written the book on what makes a complete running back – literally.

Horton has more than 25 years experience and an impressive SEC resume at Arkansas (2007-12) and Auburn (2013-present) coaching Darren McFadden, Felix Jones, Tre Mason and Cameron Artis-Payne among others. In 2016, Auburn RB Kamryn Pettway led all SEC backs in yards per game (122.4) on his way to a 1,224-yard season. Pettway is the eighth 1,000-yard rusher coached by Horton since 2007.

Tight ends/special teams: Jeff Banks, Texas A&M (current salary: $360,000)

This was something of a toss up between Banks and Tennessee’s Larry Scott, who holds the same set of responsibilities. Banks has more history as a special teams coach and the Aggies’ numbers were better overall (23.59 yards per kickoff return and 25.36 yards per punt return) than Tennessee’s (24.88 yards per kickoff return and 11.12 yards per punt return) in that department.

Scott is a leading candidate to become Tennessee’s next offensive coordinator, so he probably won’t lose any sleep over losing a fictional job to Banks.

Offensive line: Sam Pittman, Georgia (current salary: $650,000)

Georgia pulled Pittman out of Arkansas by signing him for $650,000, more than most teams can afford to pay non-coordinators, so it’s a good thing that money’s not a problem for our athletic department. A hypothetical offensive staff with Enos, Horton and Pittman should produce one heck of a ground game.

Sure, the Bulldogs’ line had its issues in 2016, but Pittman’s resume speaks for itself. From 2012-15 his offensive lines had the fewest sacks allowed, and since 2013 he’s put eight offensive linemen in the NFL. He can get ready for another big payday, because we’re signing him away from UGA.

Defensive coordinator: Dave Aranda, LSU (current salary: $1.8 million)

It’s impossible to go wrong picking between Aranda and Alabama’s Jeremy Pruitt. Staples, for what it’s worth, considered Clemson’s Brent Venables college football’s best defensive coordinator, and gave Pruitt an honorable mention.

This is admittedly unfair to Pruitt, but one of the strongest items on Aranda’s resume is LSU holding Alabama to a season-low of 10 points on Nov. 5. Alabama won the game 10-0, but it’s no secret that the Crimson Tide had the more potent offense in 2016. If Aranda can contain the Lane Kiffin offense like that, he can pretty much contain anybody’s offense.

Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

Pruitt’s no slouch, but we’re following the current coaching market and filling up the Brink’s truck for Aranda, who will also work with inside linebackers. In a conference loaded with million-dollar defensive coordinators, we’re willing to make Aranda a $2 million coordinator.

Outside linebackers: Tosh Lupoi, Alabama (current salary: $550,000)

While it’s tempting to go with a position veteran here like Tennessee’s Tommy Thigpen, the opportunity to get Lupoi on staff is simply too much to pass up. Lupoi made a name for himself as an assistant showing his prowess on the recruiting trail, but has also earned a co-coordinator title on Alabama’s defensive staff, which shows he knows his Xs and Os.

He has reportedly had multiple Power 5 offers, most recently Cal, to become a defensive coordinator on his own, but has opted to stay at Alabama.

Even if Lupoi is getting some credit for Saban’s coaching, something that most UA defensive assistants have to deal with, it works for Moneybags State. Any team – real or imaginary – would love to have linebackers like Alabama’s.

Defensive line: Rodney Garner, Auburn (current salary: $600,000)

There’s no denying that Alabama’s defensive line had an excellent first season under former NFL assistant Karl Dunbar, but this staff is going with SEC veteran Rodney “Coach G” Garner to work with the talented defensive linemen eager to play for Saban and Aranda.

After 15 years at Georgia, Garner joined the Auburn staff in 2013 along with defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson. In the 2014-16 seasons, the Tigers had three defensive coordinators: Johnson, Will Muschamp and Kevin Steele. When Muschamp and Steele took over in their respective seasons, both kept Garner on staff.

Every staff ideally has a balance of young up-and-comers and experienced veterans, Garner is one of those veterans you want working with an SEC defense.

Defensive backs: Corey Raymond, LSU (current salary: $400,000)

The Tigers have bumped Raymond’s pay in back-to-back years, and with good reason. Since Raymond joined the staff in 2012, LSU has recruited top talent and developed that talent. Tre’Davious White, Rashard Robinson, Jamal Adams and Kevin Toliver all received All-SEC freshman honors under Raymond. Adams is expected to be a first-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.

You can’t bring up LSU’s defensive backs without bringing up Florida, as the two teams fiercely debate which school holds the title of “DBU.”

Gators fans will certainly point to secondary coach Torrian Gray’s impressive work at Virginia Tech and the fact that Teez Tabor and Quincy Wilson are likely first-round draft picks. With Gray only having spent this year at UF, Raymond’s SEC resume makes him the top choice for this fictional staff.