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The SEC's motto proclaims that sports just means more in the league, and John Calipari can confirm it with an $8.5 million salary. With that pay rate last season, the Kentucky head coach is one of the top paid coaches in any sport. Here's the league's top five coaching earners:
Top 5 highest-paid SEC basketball coaches
5 (tie). Buzz Williams, Texas A&M
Williams earned $4.1 million last season. Williams's deepest NCAA Tournament run was a 2013 Elite Eight while at Marquette. In his fifth season at A&M, Williams has yet to win an NCAA Tournament game at the school.
Williams's record at A&M is 91-58. For his Division I career, he's at 344-213, with a 10-9 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament. Williams ranks within the national top 15 in coaches' salaries.
4 (tie). Eric Musselman, Arkansas
Musselman equaled Williams with a $4.1 million salary mark last season. Muss reached the Elite Eight with Arkansas in 2021 and 2022, but this season, his Razorbacks have struggled to a 13-13 mark.
Musselman is 108-55 overall at Arkansas, and his Division I college record is 218-89, including a 10-6 mark in the NCAA Tournament. He also coached for three full seasons in the NBA, posting a 108-138 overall mark and failing to reach the playoffs.
3. Bruce Pearl, Auburn
Pearl's earnings of $5.5 million for last season placed him in the sport's top ten highest paid coaches. Pearl took Auburn to the Final Four in 2019, and has a 207-115 mark at the school. Overall, Pearl is 669-260 in NCAA competition, including 145 wins at Tennessee.
For his career, Pearl is 17-11 in the NCAA Tournament. By taking Tennessee to the Elite Eight in 2010 and then reaching the Final Four with Auburn, Pearl has led two SEC schools on their deepest NCAA Tournament runs. He also won an NCAA DIvision II championship at Southern Indiana.
2. Rick Barnes, Tennessee
Barnes's $5.5 million salary for last season is the same as Pearl's, but his contract calls for an increase the current season, so we bumped him to second in our rankings. Barnes reached the Final Four with Texas in 2003, but hasn't gotten Tennessee past the Sweet 16.
He's 191-98 for the Vols, and has a career mark of 795-412. Barnes has a 27-26 career NCAA Tournament record, and this Tennessee team is perhaps his best squad. If he takes the Vols to the Final Four, his top ten national contract will seem like a bargain.
1. John Calipari, Kentucky
At $8.5 million in salary, Calipari basically backs up the money truck to his house in Lexington. Calipari led Kentucky to the Final Four in four of his first six seasons, but has not returned since 2015. He did win the 2012 NCAA title at UK. His Kentucky record is 405-121.
Calipari took UMass and Memphis to the Final Four, although NCAA penalties have wiped both from the official record book. Counting all the vacated games, Calipari is 850–260 in his career. His salary, tops in the sport, may be controversial in light of his one NCAA Touranment win since 2019.
Who's overpaid? Who's underpaid? Who should be added to (or taken off) this list? We'd love to hear from you in our comments section.
