Nick Saban signs extension through 2024 season, will make over $11M in 2017

Nick Saban was already making a lot of money. Now he’s making even more. (Getty)
Nick Saban was already making a lot of money. Now he’s making even more. (Getty)

It sure looks like Alabama coach Nick Saban is going to retire in Tuscaloosa.

The school announced a contract extension through 2024 with Saban, 65, on Tuesday. The extension adds three years to the deal Saban had previously and also gives him a signing bonus of $4 million up front.

“[Wife] Terry and I are pleased and happy to agree to the contract extension the University of Alabama has offered us, ensuring our time here in Tuscaloosa will continue for many more years” Saban said in a statement. “This has become our home and we are looking forward to finishing our career at Alabama.”

Saban’s signing bonus means he’ll make over $11 million in 2017. His total compensation in 2016 was nearly $7 million.

The one-time payment to vault a single-year salary in a college football coach’s contract isn’t new. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh became the highest-paid coach in the country in 2016 over Saban because of a life insurance loan he took out earlier in the year.

It’s practically a guarantee that Saban will be the highest-paid NFL or college football coach in 2017 because of the bonus and he’s the first coach in college football to have an annual salary in the eight-figure range. Harbaugh’s total compensation in 2016 was just over $9 million.

Per Alabama, Saban will also receive an additional $4 million spread out over 2020, 2021 and 2022. 80 percent of that payment will come in 2022.

Saban came to Alabama after a two-year tenure with the Miami Dolphins. It’s a virtual certainty he won’t head back to the NFL and there’s really nowhere else in college football that he can go. He’s 119-19 in 10 years at Alabama and has won four national championships with the Tide.

If Saban finishes out his contract with Alabama, there’s a chance he could crack the 300-win mark. He currently has 205 wins (per the NCAA); only four coaches in FBS history have over 300 wins. And given Saban’s success and the revenue he’s brought in for Alabama, it’s nearly impossible to argue that he’s overpaid in the current college sports structure.

Saban’s contract extension was part of other raises and contract changes for Alabama’s football staff. Outside linebackers coach Tosh Lupoi, a key recruiter for the Tide, got a hefty raise. It’s reasonable to think that we’ll see position coaches start to make seven figures in the next few years.

Alabama strength coach Scott Cochran will now make $535,000 and his contract was extended through 2020. At least 18 FBS head coaches made less than Cochran’s new salary in 2016 according to USA Today’s database.

For more Alabama news, visit BamaInsider.com.

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!