Written by Blake Williams at Forbes.com
When the college football season came to a close Jan. 11 Alabama stood atop the field as national champions. While the 2016 season doesn’t begin until Sept. 1, the first victor of the new year was announced this Wednesday. Again, Alabama was on top.
The Crimson Tide left Wednesday’s National Signing Day, the day on which current high school seniors were required to put pen to paper and make the decision on where they will play college football official, with the No. 1 recruiting class according to most services.
That’s become an expectation for the Crimson Tide and head coach Nick Saban, and the five-time national champion is well compensated for his efforts. Surely, Saban received the highest salary in college football for his ability to produce winners on the field, but he doesn’t produce that high level of a product without consistently winning in the living rooms of high school stars around the country.
College coaches are expected to produce top level recruits and most of the highest paid coaches in the country did so in the 2016 class. Below are the top 10 recruiting classes according to Scout.com along with the coach’s salary. With every recruit in the country rated on a five-star scale, a little math allows us to see how much the athletic department paid per star coming to campus for the 2016 season.
Saban cost his school the most per star, but Alabama would certainly pay his salary over and over again to ensure elite talent keeps pouring in to Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The Crimson Tide’s situation is not unique as seven of the highest paid coaches in college football secured top ten recruiting classes for 2016. The exceptions were UCLA, Georgia and Florida.
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