Texas Coach Steve Sarkisian to Make Over $10 Million per Year With New Contract Extension

Texas’s board of regents is set to approve a huge increase in pay for the Longhorns coach.

Texas football had its long-awaited breakout season under Steve Sarkisian in 2023, winning the Big 12 and reaching the College Football Playoff for the first time. 

The Longhorns’ 12-win season proved to be very lucrative for Sarkisian. The University of Texas board of regents is set to approve a contract extension for the football coach at a meeting this coming week, which will nearly double his annual pay.

Inside Texas acquired details of Sarkisian’s new contract from the board of regents’ meeting agenda. The Longhorns coach will be paid $10.3 million in 2024 and will begin a new seven-year agreement running through 2030. His salary is set to increase by $100,000 each year of the deal, topping out at $10.9 million in 2030.

The deal also includes two cars for Sarkisian to use, 20 hours of private aircraft flight time per year, club memberships and a ticket allotment for all Texas games, per the agenda. 

Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian is set to be one of the highest-paid coaches in the sport in 2024 :: Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman/USA TODAY Network

With the contract, Sarkisian is eligible for up to $1.85 million in annual performance incentives, $1.25 million of which can be achieved by winning the College Football Playoff.

Per USA TODAY‘s coaching salaries database, Sarkisian had a base salary of $5.6 million last season, 30th in the country among publicly available college football head coaching salaries. His new $10.3 million annual income would place Sarkisian fourth, between Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Ohio State’s Ryan Day, based on 2023 salaries.

Sarkisian is 25–14 in three years at Texas, with a 17–10 conference record. The Longhorns will begin SEC play in 2024, joining the league alongside rival Oklahoma.