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Ranking Big 12 head coach salaries: Where does Chris Klieman stand?

Kirby Smart is now the highest-paid coach in college football, so where do Big 12 coaches stand up against each other?

By Ericka Brockish

Nov 19, 2022; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Kansas State Wildcats head coach Chris Klieman watches the field during a timeout against Baylor.
Nov 19, 2022; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Kansas State Wildcats head coach Chris Klieman watches the field during a timeout against Baylor. / Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports
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In college football, the most important person on the sideline is the head coach running everything. That is why we play them the big bucks right? Well, at least Georgia football is.

The news of head coach Kirby Smart's contract extension and major pay increase, makes one think about how other coaches rank against them. Smart is making a record $13 million with his extension to become the highest-paid college football coach.

So how do the coaches in the Big 12 measure up to Smart's record salary? How does Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman measure against Smart? How does he measure up to coaches in the Big 12? Here are those answers.

It is important to note that due to the fact that they are private universities and are not required by law to release contract information for their employees, we do not have the salaries for BYU and TCU. So we do not know how much TCU's Sonny Dykes and BYU's Kalani Sitake, but they definitely make good money.

16. Kalani Sitake, BYU Cougars: unknown
15. Sonny Dykes, TCU Horned Frogs: unknown
14. Brent Brennan, Arizona Wildcats: $2.2 million
13. Scott Scatterfield, Cincinnati Bearcats: $3.7 million
T-11. Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State Sun Devils: $3.8 million
T-11. Dave Aranda, Baylor Bears: $3.8 million
T-8 Neal Brown, West Virginia Mountaineers: $4.0 million
T-8. Gus Malzahn, UCF Knights: $4.0 milion
T-8. Matt Campbell, Iowa State Cyclones: $4.0 million
7. Joey McGuire, Texas Tech Red Raiders: $4.1 million
6. Willie Fritz, Houston Cougars: $4.5 million
5. Chris Klieman, Kansas State Wildcats: $5.5 million
4. Deion Sanders, Colorado Buffaloes: $5.9 million
3. Kyle Whittingham, Utah Utes: $6 million
2. Lance Leipold, Kansas Jayhawks: $7 million
1. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State Cowboys: $7.7 million

Klieman coming in the top five of coaching salaries is great, especially because he is now signed through 2030. Klieman came from the FCS program at North Dakota State and brought the success he had there to Manhattan, Kansas. He also brought his ability to bring in solid transfers for positions that are most needed.

The Wildcats are locked with Klieman for a while and they are happy to see what he does with young quarterback Avery Johnson.

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