Kalen DeBoer's Salary Announced, Contracts Approved for Alabama Football Assistants

Full contract details for new Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer along with his coaching staff.

For the first time since his hiring in January, new Alabama football head coach Kalen DeBoer's salary and contract details are public.

DeBoer's annual compensation of $10 million was unanimously approved by the University of Alabama Board of Trustees on Monday afternoon. The contract runs for eight years through Dec. 21, 2031 and will increase to $11,750,000 by the final year. 

This puts DeBoer as one of the top-five highest paid coaches in the country behind only Clemson's Dabo Swinney, Georgia's Kirby Smart and Texas' Steve Sarkisian. It is a major pay bump from what DeBoer was making at Washington. Last season with the Huskies, his compensation was $4.2 million. 

DeBoer's buyout is $5 million in 2024, $4 million for 2025, $3 million for 2026 and drops to $0 after that for the remainder of his current contract. 

There are also athletic and academic performance incentives in DeBoer's contract. He will get a $75,000 bonus for appearing in SEC championship games with a $125,000 bonus if Alabama wins. There is a $150,000 bonus for a College Football Playoff appearances that increases each round ($250,000 for quarterfinals, $400,000 for semifinals, $600,000 for championship game.) He will receive a $875,000 bonus if Alabama wins the national title. 

The contract states that he cannot get more than two incentives under that section. So for example, if the Crimson Tide won the SEC and CFP in the same season, he would get $1 million total in performance-based bonuses. 

On the academic side, if Alabama finishes in the top-four in the SEC in graduation rates, DeBoer will receive a $100,000 bonus. 

Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban was the highest paid coach in college football, making more than $11 million in 2023. But that came after decades of success and seven national titles. 

The board of trustees also approved contracts for new and returning members of the football staff including strength coach David Ballou, returning assistants  Robert Gillespie (running backs) and Freddie Roach (defensive line/associate head coach.) New hires Bryan Ellis (tight ends), Colin Hitschler (co-defensive coordinator/defensive backs), Chris Kapilovic (offensive line), Maurice Linguist (co-defensive coordinator/defensive backs), Courtney Morgan (general manager), Jay Nunez (special teams), Christian Robinson (outside linebackers), JaMarcus Shepherd (assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers) Nick Sheridan (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) and Kane Wommack (defensive coordinator/linebackers) had their initial contracts approved as well. 

Ballou's contract was extended for two years with a $950,000 annual salary. Gillespie also got a two-year extension at $850,000 a year. Roach got a two-year extension at $1 million for the first year and $1.1 million for the second year of the contract. 

For the new assistant hires, Ellis received a two-year contract at $550,000 annually. Hitschler's two-year contract will be $625,000 for the first season and jumps to $675,000 the next season. Kapilovic and Linguist each got two-year deals at $875,000 for the first year and $925,000 for the second year. Courtney Morgan's two-year contract is set for a $500,000 annual salary while Nunez will make $250,000 annually. Shepherd received a two-year deal at $1.1 million. 

Alabama's coordinators, Sheridan and Wommack, both received three-year contracts. Sheridan received $650,000 for the week of Jan. 23-31, 2024 on top of his annual salary of $1.35 million that will increase by $100,000 for each year of the contract. Wommack, a former head coach at South Alabama, will make $1.55 million his first year, $1.7 million his second year and $1.85 million in the final year of his contract. 

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