Kalen DeBoer salary vs. Jim Harbaugh Contract Comparison: Salary details, structure and more ahead of National Championship

This year, the national championship will feature a battle between two of the best coaches in college football: Washington's Kalen DeBoer and Michigan's Jim Harbaugh. Both of them adhere to very different coaching philosophies. On one side, we have the physical style of the No. 1 Wolverines, and on the other, the high-flying, pass-heavy offense of the No. 2 Huskies.

Regardless of how they have done it, both teams have been the most successful this season. It's the first time since the 2020-21 season that two undefeated schools have reached the CFP national championship. Michigan won the Big Ten without as much as breaking a sweat, while Washington defeated Oregon twice in high-scoring encounters.

Let's see how much the coaches get for their troubles. Here are the contracts of Kalen DeBoer and Jim Harbaugh.

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Kalen DeBoer's salary vs. Jim Harbaugh's Salary

Kalen DeBoer Salary

Kalen DeBoer makes $4.2 million per year, according to a report from USA Today from October this year. As plentiful as that might sound, that only makes him the 44th best-paid coach in the NCAA.

To put into perspective how much coaches make, that's more than what the governor and senators of the state of Washington make in a year. It is also more than the president of the university.

Jim Harbaugh Salary

Jim Harbaugh, on the other hand, has a bigger salary. His earnings started at $7.05 million in 2022 and will steadily increase to $7.63 million until the contract runs out in 2026. He was bumped up on this current contract by about $3 million from his previous deal that ended in 2021.

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Highest-paid college football coaches in 2024

Coach	Team	Salary
Nick Saban	Alabama Crimson Tide	$11.4 million
Dabo Swinney	Clemson Tigers	$10.9 million
Kirby Smart	Georgia Bulldogs	$10.7 million
Ryan Day	Ohio State Buckeyes	$10.3 million
Lincoln Riley	USC Trojans	$10 million (Estimated)

Via Front Office Sports

By far, the biggest salary is that of Alabama's Nick Saban. This is unsurprising, considering the amount of success the long-serving coach has brought to the Tuscaloosa school. The same could be said of Clemson's Dabo Swinney, who has brought two national titles and eight ACC championships to the school, and Georgia's Kirby Smart and his two national titles.

The outliers here could be said to be Lincoln Riley, Ryan Day, and nowadays, Swinney. Riley hasn't achieved the level of success that merits such a high compensation, and Day and Swinney's difficulty with achieving the same level of success in recent seasons may make school administrators wonder if this is the best allocation for their assets.

A surprising inclusion on the list is Mel Tucker, who, before being dismissed for a sexual harassment scandal from Michigan State, was earning $10 million. This also seemed a bit out of touch with his actual achievements.