Nick Saban got his first full-time coaching job in 1975 at his alma mater Kent State, where he played from 1970-72 and was a graduate assistant from 1973-74. His annual salary was $8,000 per year.
His salary in 2017 is $11.25 million.
Forty-two years after he became the Golden Flashes' linebackers coach, Saban is now the greatest coach in college football history. He owns 206 wins, eight conference championships, five national championships and a truckload of individual honors, including two AP National Coach of the Year Awards. And he's being rewarded with the largest salary of any public employee in the United States.
In May, he signed a contract extension with Alabama that runs through the 2024 season. In addition to his $6.275 annual salary for 2017, he receives a $4 million signing bonus and a contract-year completion bonus of $400,000 (in each of the next two years, then $800,000 each of the subsequent two years). That equals $11.125 million.
Is he worth it?
“Probably not,” Saban said during Wednesday's press conference. “But I don’t really do this for money, never really have.”
Saban added that he doesn't believe it's up to him to determine his value to the University of Alabama and that he is grateful the school has supported the football program since he arrived in 2007.
“I started out in this profession making $8,000 a year, and that was after two years of being a graduate assistant and making nothing, going to graduate school and working, loading trucks at night and my wife worked in the registrar’s office,” he said. "We were happy when my dad brought us a case of peas, so we could have a side dish when we’re eating. We worked hard through the years.”
You can listen to his full comments below (starts at 10:58):
