It is no secret that Alabama coach Nick Saban believes in a large, well-compensated support staff in addition to his allotment of assistant coaches.

But did you know just how expensive that support staff can be?

According to a report by CBS Sports’ Jon Solomon, the Crimson Tide is paying in the neighborhood of $3 million in annual salaries to football-related support staff that is not a part of the official pool of assistant coaches.

Among the highest paid members of that staff, according to the report, are strength and conditioning coach Scott Cochran ($517,045) and direct of player personnel Kerry Stevenson ($181,309).

Is it an unfair advantage?

Not in the national championship game.

Solomon’s report also details the support staff spending habits of Clemson, and the results are quite similar to the Crimson Tide, with the total also nearing the $3 million mark each season.

Still yet, it may be creating a competitive disadvantage for the rest of college football, where there presumably isn’t the budget for such hires nationwide.

Former Texas coach Mack Brown said that he used his role as president American Football Coaches Association president to try to encourage changes to the system.

He told Solomon:

“We wanted to curb some of the 38 to 50 members that are around now that you’re not even sure what they’re doing. To me, it’s too big to be fair to everybody because all we would be doing is letting those that have money and those that will spend that money in football getting ahead of others.”

Believe it or not,  SEC commissioner Greg Sankey told Solomon that the SEC actual supports the idea of limiting the size of these staffs:

“Believe it or not, the Southeastern Conference introduced a legislative proposal (that didn’t gain national support) to govern the size of football staffs. A little bit against the narrative, right? We continue to have conversations about the proliferation staff size. Where’s the end of proliferating staff size?”

It is an interesting subplot to Monday night’s game, and something that may garner more attention as coaches and administrators look for ways to improve the competitive balance of college football.