Following signing bonus, Nick Saban will make 74 times what Bear Bryant made at Alabama

Between Alabama coaching legends, comparisons are inevitable. One area that Nick Saban wins easily over former Crimson Tide legend Bear Bryant, however, is coaching salary.

After Saban’s extension was announced on Tuesday, when considering a one-time signing bonus of $4 million dollars that will count toward his 2017 salary, the Tide’s current head man is scheduled to make 74 times what Bear Bryant did while in Tuscaloosa. As Rovell notes, he’s factoring in for inflation in this calculation.

In 2017, Nick Saban will make 74 TIMES what Bear Bryant made coaching Alabama 60 seasons ago, factoring for inflation.

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) May 2, 2017

According to USA Today’s database, Saban’s new annual salary of $11.125 million for 2017 would’ve made him the highest paid coach in college football for 2016, over $2 million clear of Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, and nearly double Ohio State’s Urban Meyer.

This arms race of college football coaching salaries has drastically changed the market since the time of Bear Bryant. The Bear famously signed a 10-year contract in 1957 that paid him $17,500 per year. Near the end of his tenure, Bryant made $45,000 a year in the late 70’s.

Though Bryant’s salary was certainly more modest, Alabama may have gotten the best deal of all time. For that small sum of money, the university received six national championships and 13 SEC titles.

Nick Saban is well on the way to that kind of success, netting four national titles and five SEC championships during his 10 seasons in Tuscaloosa, but this success has been much less cost effective.

Will Ogburn

A former resident of both Baton Rouge and the heart of Crimson Tide country, Will Ogburn handles multimedia content and news coverage for Saturday Down South.