We do this every year, and we do it because it's necessary.
After kicking off our series with the offensive coordinators last week, we move to the defensive side of the ball today. As has been the case for a while now, seven defensive play-callers will earn more than the highest-paid offensive coordinator in college football.
And of those seven, five were not in that group a year ago. Blake Baker and D'Anton Lynn netted huge raises in switching jobs; we don't know what Wink Martindale was making with the New York Giants, but he's doing okay at Michigan.
And in case you missed the first installment, this year we're presenting the market a little bit differently. Rather than a straight 1-through-50ish ranking, we lay out the market as it sits today broken down by dollar signs.
(Update: Adam Fuller's contract, reported as a 3-year deal back in December, first reported here.)
$2.5 million: Blake Baker, LSU
$2.3 million: Wink Martindale, Michigan
$2.15 million: Pete Golding, Ole Miss
$2.015 million: Adam Fuller, Florida State
$2 million: D'Anton Lynn, USC; Al Golden, Notre Dame; Glenn Schumann, Georgia
$1.9 million: Jim Knowles, Ohio State; Phil Parker, Iowa
$1.8 million: Pete Kwiatkowski, Texas
$1.7 million: Tosh Lupoi, Oregon
$1.6 million: Tony White, Nebraska
$1.55 million: Kane Wommack, Alabama
$1.5 million: Tim Banks, Tennessee; Tony Gibson, NC State; Joe Rossi, Michigan State; Morgan Scalley, Utah; Brad White, Kentucky
$1.4 million: Wes Goodwin, Clemson
$1.3 million: Travaris Robinson, Georgia*
$1.2 million: Austin Armstrong, Florida; DJ Durkin, Auburn; Clayton White, South Carolina
$1.175 million: Travis Williams, Arkansas
$1.1 million: Bryant Haines, Indiana
$1.05 million: Tim DeRuyter, Texas Tech
$1 million: Corey Batoon, Missouri; Chris Hampton, Oregon*; Coleman Hutzler, Mississippi State; Ikaika Malloe, UCLA
$925,000: Peter Sirmon, Cal
$900,000: Mickey Conn, Clemson*; Johnny Nansen, Texas*
$875,000: Maurice Linguist, Alabama*; Chris Marve, Virginia Tech; John Rudzinski, Virginia; Brian Williams, Maryland
$850,000: Zac Alley, Oklahoma*; Corey Heatherman, Minnesota; Kevin Kane, Purdue
$825,000: Joe Klanderman, Kansas State
$800,000: Robert Livingston, Colorado; Mike Tressel, Wisconsin; Brian Ward, Arizona State
$757,000: Randy Bates, Pitt
$750,000: Shiel Wood, Houston
$725,000: Keith Heyward, Oregon State
$700,000: Ron English, Louisville*; Mark Hagen, Louisville*; Aaron Henry, Illinois; Jordan Lesley, West Virginia
$650,000: Bryan Nardo, Oklahoma State
$625,000: Colin Hitschler, Alabama*
$600,000: Brian Borland, Kansas; Joe Bob Clements, Oklahoma State*; Tyler Santucci, Georgia Tech
* - Co-coordinator
Missing: Duane Akina, Arizona; Jay Bateman, Texas A&M; Steve Belichick, Washington; Geoff Collins, North Carolina; Ted Roof, UCF; Tyson Veidt, Cincinnati
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.