Florida football: Dan Mullen, the highest paid coach in Florida, for good reason

When you look at college football coaches’ salaries, some will make you want to shake your head. However, not really concerned about Florida football coach Dan Mullen.

There’s no question that Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and Alabama head coach Nick Saban are paid a lot of money, but what about Florida football coach Dan Mullen?

According to USA Today’s recently-released database of college football coach salaries, Swinney tops the list, making a cool $9.25 million per year — surpassing Saban’s $8.7 million per year.

As for Florida football, Mullen checks in as the highest-paid coach in the state— earning $6.07 million per year with maximum bonuses totaling $925,000. Last season, Mullen earned $400,000 in bonuses, according to the database.

It makes Mullen the 10th highest-paid college football coach in the country.

One other thing of note is the buyout of Mullen’s contract would cost Florida football approximately $12 million.

Now, in terms of other coaches in the state, you have Florida State’s Willie “Ouch, this seat is hot” Taggart, earning $5 million per season. He has come under a lot of fire of late due to the lack of success for the Seminoles on the field.

His buyout is shockingly high at $17.7 million.

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South Florida head coach Charlie Strong earns the same as Taggart — $5 million and has maximum incentive bonuses he can earn totaling $815,000.

Taggart and Strong are ranked No. 15 and No. 16, respectively, nationally.

Josh Heupel, Central Florida’s head coach, is No. 64 on the list, earning $2.3 million per season while Florida Atlantic head coach Lane “3 Blind Mice” Kiffin is pulling down $1.43 million per season, putting him at No. 80 on the list.

Florida International head coach Butch Davis earned $992,250 for his contract but has a $2.025 million buyout clause on his contract.

The University of Miami is a private institution; therefore, the total salary of head coach Manny Diaz is not known.

Now, some might scoff at Mullen’s pay, but you have to consider the level of the program and then ask if he has earned it.

Last season, he led Florida football to a 10-3 season and, this season, the Gators are 7-1 and tied for the SEC East lead.

All-in-all, I would say he has earned it.

I would, however, question the sanity of the powers that be in Tallahassee who is paying Taggart $5 million for what will likely amount to a pair of losing seasons. In fact, only Purdue head coach Tom Herman is likely to have a losing record besides Taggart of coaches in the top 15 salary-wise.

I really don’t think you can suggest that Mullen doesn’t earn what he makes. Righting the Florida football ship was no easy task and he seems to have done that in just two seasons.

It looks like money well-spent.

Remember, No. 7 Florida is off this weekend and will return to action next Saturday against No. 10 Georgia in Jacksonville.