The University of Texas has spent nearly $54 million on football coaches in three years
On Sunday, the University of Texas introduced Tom Herman as their newest football coach. It was a move that was not cheap and is just the latest in an incredible spending spree that started less than three years ago.
In order to hire Herman, Texas first had to fire third-year coach Charlie Strong. In order to do that, the school had to pay a $10.4 million buyout of the two years remaining on Strong's contract, according to the Austin American-Statesman. That is after already paying Strong $5.2 million in salary this season.
Texas then had to buy out Herman's contract from the University of Houston. Herman's contract called for a $2.5 million buyout, according to ESPN, an amount that is typically paid by the new school.
But wait, there's more!
Herman is going to want to hire his own assistant coaches. According to the Austin American-Statesman, it will cost the University of Texas another $6.3 million in buyouts to part ways with Strong's assistants. That's on top of the $3.9 million those coaches made in salaries this year.
In all, Texas has committed more than $28 million to football coaches since the start of this season and Herman has yet to coach a single practice.
At that time, the school paid Brown a $2.75 million buyout and gave him a one-year position as a special assistant with a salary of $500,000, ESPN reported at the time. In addition, Texas paid Louisville $4.4 million to buy out Strong's contract from that school.
If we then include the salaries for Strong and his assistants for their first two years at Texas, that is an additional $17.6 million in salaries for football coaches.
In all, the University of Texas has spent approximately $53.5 million on football coaches since January, 2014.
Texas will recoup some of that if Strong and and of his assistants find new jobs in the next two years, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
For example, if Strong lands a new job next season, Texas' buyout would be reduced by as much as half of what Strong is making at the new school. That is, if he makes $6 million in his first two years at his new job, his buyout at Texas could be reduced by $3 million. In addition, the buyouts for the assistants would also be reduced by whatever they were making at their next jobs.
Of course, a lot of the money being spent on the coaches will come indirectly from the deep pockets of the school's alumni and boosters. In addition, this amounts still pale in comparison to the roughly $120 million in revenue the football generates annually.
Still, this is just another reminder that college football is big business and everybody is making a lot of money, except the players.