When Texas hired Steve Sarkisian in 2021, his six-year $34.2 million contract didn’t even put him in the Top 10 of coaching salaries around the country. Now that he’s lifted the Longhorns to their first No. 1 ranking since 2008, he’s being paid like an elite coach.

In USA Today’s annual list of college football coaching salaries, released Wednesday, Sarkisian is the third highest-paid coach in the country behind only Georgia’s Kirby Smart ($13 million per year) and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney ($11 million). After leading Texas to the College Football Playoff, Sarkisian was rewarded with a new contract in January that pays him more than $10 million annually.

Besides Smart, Swinney and Sarkisian, there are four other coaches who will make at least $10 million this year: USC’s Lincoln Riley, Florida State’s Mike Norvell, Ohio State’s Ryan Day and Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer.

Texas A&M’s Mike Elko ($7 million) and TCU’s Sonny Dykes ($5,008,414) are the only other football coaches at Texas schools making more than $5 million a year.

Here are the salaries for all 13 Football Bowl Subdivision college football head coaches in Texas, according to USA Today’s list:

Steve Sarkisian, Texas: $10.6 million

Mike Elko, Texas A&M: $7 million

Sonny Dykes, TCU: $5 million

Dave Aranda, Baylor: $4.54 million

Willie Fritz, Houston: $4.5 million

Joey McGuire, Texas Tech: $4.25 million

Jeff Traylor, UTSA: $2.5 million

Rhett Lashlee, SMU: $2.36 million

Eric Morris, North Texas: $1.33 million

G.J. Kinne, Texas State: $1 million

Mike Bloomgren, Rice: $981,781

Scotty Walden, UTEP: $800,000

K.C. Keeler, Sam Houston State: $625,000

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