In 2007, there wasn’t a single coach in college football to receive a $4 million-plus salary.

There’s at least 20 of them heading into the 2016 season, per coachingsearch.com. Most of them come from the SEC.

According to the report, the SEC leads the nation with nine different coaches making at least $4 million for this upcoming campaign — including the entire West division. Tennessee’s Butch Jones and Florida’s Jim McElwain joined the club this offseason with deserved raises.

That’s still down from 10 last year, as Steve Spurrier and Gary Pinkel retired, while Mark Richt was let go at Georgia.

Still, it’s a stat worth emphasizing. Just a few short years ago, prior to the 2013 season, only five coaches nationally hit the $4 million salary marker.

In other words, it’s easy to determine which direction college football is heading: up.