How much would you pay for a college football win?

By Amy Daughters -

How much do you think your school paid—in head coaching dollars—for each win you celebrated in 2016?

How about $46,000 at the bare minimum to $1.6 million at the top of the scale? The numbers are calculated using USA Today’s 2016 NCAA Coaches Salaries Database. The cost per win equals the “school pay” for each FBS coach divided by the number of wins achieved this past season. It doesn’t include any bonuses or “additional” salary.

It takes the question of “who gets the fattest paycheck” to the next level– highlighting those guys who squeeze the best results out of the least amount of cash. The big winners are those who posted the most wins in 2016 with the smallest paycheck. The losers are those who got paid a lot and won very few games.

Coaches who won league title contests and/or bowl games fared even better, earning extra victories that drove costs down further.

As a note, Jim Grobe (Baylor), Kalani Sitake (BYU), Mark Richt (Miami Fla.), Pat Narduzzi (Pitt), Clay Helton (USC), Chard Morris (SMU), Dino Babers (Syracuse), Willie Fritz (Tulane), and Philip Montgomery (Tulsa) were not included in USA Today’s database.

BEST VALUE – Overall

10. Frank Solich – Ohio (8 wins @ $71,589 per win)

9. Jay Hopson – Southern Miss (7 wins @ $71,429 per win)

8. Neal Brown – Troy (10 wins @ $66,000 per win)

7. P.J. Fleck – Western Michigan (13 wins @ $62,797 per win)

6. Chris Creighton – Eastern Michigan (7 wins @ $62,120 per win)

5. Nick Rolovich – Hawaii (7 wins @ $57,144 per win)

4. Skip Holtz – Louisiana Tech (9 wins @ $55,556 per win)

3. Bobby Wilder – Old Dominion (10 wins @ $55,459 per win)

2. Scott Satterfield – Appalachian State (10 wins @ $52,500 per win)

1. Paul Petrino – Idaho (9 wins @ $46,345)

BEST VALUE – Power Conferences

10. Dabo Swinney – Clemson (14 wins @ $315,536 per win)

9. Dave Doeren – NC State (7 wins @ $314,286 per win)

8. Mike Riley – Nebraska (9 wins @ $311,111 per win)

7. Dave Clawson – Wake Forest (7 wins @ $301,888 per win)

6. Chris Petersen – Washington (12 wins @ $300,000 per win)

5. Dana Holgorsen – West Virginia (10 wins @ $298,000 per win)

4. Larry Fedora – North Carolina (8 wins @ $248,283 per win)

3. Paul Chryst – Wisconsin (11 wins @ $245,455 per win)

2. Mike MacIntyre – Colorado (10 wins @ $201,105 per win)

1. Tracy Claeys – Minnesota (9 wins @ $155,556 per win)

WORST VALUE – Overall

10. Mark Helfrich – Oregon (4 wins @ $825,000 per win)

9. Rich Rodriquez – Arizona (3 wins @ 833,333 per win)

8. Jim Mora – UCLA (4 wins @ $862,500 per win)

7. Jim Harbaugh – Michigan (10 wins @ $900,400 per win)

6. Hugh Freeze – Ole Miss (5 wins @ $940,000 per win)

5. Chris Ash – Rutgers (2 wins @ $1,000,000 per win)

4. Charlie Strong – Texas (5 wins @ $1,040,000 per win)

3. Mark Dantonio – Michigan State (3 wins @ $1,433,333 per win)

2. Tim DeRuyter – Fresno State (1 win @ $1,518,480 per win)

1. Bronco Mendenhall – Virginia (2 wins @ $1,637,500)

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS BY COST PER WIN

11. Sun Belt (co-champs): Scott Satterfield – Appalachian State (10 wins @ $52,500 per win)

10. MAC: P.J. Fleck – Western Michigan (13 wins @ $62,797 per win)

9. C-USA: Jeff Brohm – Western Kentucky (11 wins @ $73,236 per win)

8. Mountain West: Rocky Long – San Diego State (11 wins @ $73,694 per win)

7. Sun Belt (co-champs): Blake Anderson – Arkansas State (8 wins @ $87,500 per win)

6. American: Matt Rhule – Temple (10 wins @ $104,174 per win)

5. Pac-12: Chris Petersen – Washington (12 wins @ $300,000 per win)

4. ACC: Dabo Swinney – Clemson (14 wins @ $315,536 per win)

3. Big Ten: James Franklin – Penn State (11 wins @ $409,091 per win)

2. SEC: Nick Saban – Alabama (14 wins @ $495,671 per win)

1. Big 12: Bob Stoops – Oklahoma (11 wins @ $504,545 per win)

COST PER WIN FOR TEN WINS IN A POWER CONFERENCE

7. Jim Harbaugh – Michigan (10 wins @ $900,400 per win)

6. Jimbo Fisher – Florida State (10 wins @ $525,000 per win)

5. David Shaw – Stanford (10 wins @ $406,722 per win)

4. Mike Gundy – Oklahoma State (10 wins @ $377,500 per win)

3. Justin Fuente – Virginia Tech (10 wins @ 320,000 per win)

2. Dana Holgorsen – West Virginia (10 wins @ $298,000 per win)

1. Mike MacIntyre – Colorado (10 wins @ 201,105 per win)