In Texas, football is king. The highest classifications of football in Texas has produced college coaches like Chad Morris, Philip Montgomery, Mike Jinks, (as well as a handful of others) and a host guys that made the jump from various divisions to be an assistant coach at the major college level.
Texas is widely viewed as the king state of high school football nationally, with stadiums costing $60 and $70 million dollars and indoor facilities rivaling a lot of college programs cropping up more and more, so one would expect that the state's coaches are compensated competitively as well.
According to a piece by the Star-Telegram, across the state, football coaches in Texas earn an average of $98,668 annually. That's almost double the average teacher salary (just over $55,000), and right up there with the principals of schools with 1,100 or more kids ($117,000).
In major metropolitan, and the areas surrounding Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio the average salary of coaches is a bit higher at $103,566 and those coaching in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs are among the best compensated in the state at $106,619 on average.
Compare that to this article highlighting Georgia high school coaching salaries, where 17 guys made $100,000 or more from 2015, and keep in mind that the figures in the article have likely changed.
To help put that into perspective, other jobs, according to career site Glass Door, with an average salary of about $100,000 annually include; a special agent, airline pilots, reservoir engineer, dentist, geophysicist, and software architect, among others.
In total, the Star-Telegram points out that a total of 28 coaches in the Lone Star state earn $120,000 or more, while five earn 130,000 or more. A lot of coaches that are bringing home that kind of money also serve as athletic coordinators or athletic directors at their schools and/or districts.
Among those five highly-compensated guys is a name many will recognize in Austin Westlake (TX) head coach (and district athletic coordinator) Todd Dodge, who served as the quarterbacks coach at Pitt for a short time just after a stint as the head coach at North Texas from 2007-2010. Before going to North Texas, Dodge was the head coach at Southlake Carroll HS (TX), where his teams put together an impressive 79-1 run over four plus seasons.
The highest paid coach in the state? That would be Chad Morris' successor at Lake Travis HS (TX), Hank Carter. Carter, who led the school to their sixth state title last season, is set to make over $155,000 this season - or almost triple what the state's average is for teachers.