Not only does college football have its first $1 million tight ends coach, college football has its first $2 million tight ends coach.
That mark comes via the mother of all technicalities: Tony Elliott makes most of his money coordinating Clemson's offense, and the only reason he coaches tight ends in the first place is because Dabo Swinney replaced Danny Pearman -- Clemson's tight ends coach from 2009 through 2020, now its director of scouting -- with CJ Spiller.
Jeff Banks makes $1 million coaching Texas's tight ends, but he also coordinates special teams and serves as Steve Sarkisian's assistant head coach.
But would you believe you can now make $500,000 a year "just" coaching tight ends? Because you can now make $500,000 a year just coaching tight ends. Some Power 5 programs don't even employ tight ends coaches, and others pay theirs $400,000 or more with no additional on-the-field duties.
The full list:
1. Tony Elliott, Clemson -- $2 million*+
2. Kevin Wilson, Ohio State -- $1.2 million*
3. Jeff Banks, Texas -- $1 million+
4. Vince Marrow, Kentucky -- $900,000+
5. Brian Ferentz, Iowa -- $860,000*
6. Alex Golesh, Tenneesse -- $750,000*
7. Robert Anae, Virginia -- $650,000*
8. Jay Graham, Alabama -- $595,000+
9. Joe Jon Finley, Oklahoma -- $510,000+
10. Ted Gilmore, Michigan State -- $500,000
10. Chris Thomsen, Florida State -- $500,000+
12. Tim Brewster, Florida -- $495,000+
13. James Coley, Texas A&M -- $450,000
14. James Shibest, Virginia Tech -- $420,000+
15. Jay Harbaugh, Michigan -- $415,000+
16. Sean Beckton, Nebraska -- $400,000
16. Todd Hartley, Georgia -- $400,000
18. Stu Holt, Louisville -- $390,000+
19. Brad Bedell, Auburn -- $350,000
19. Derek Sage, UCLA -- $350,000+
19. Bobby Williams, Oregon -- $350,000+
* - offensive coordinator
+ - co-coordinator/special teams coordinator/assistant head coach
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-- We don't yet know what John David Baker will earn at Ole Miss, nor John Lilly at North Carolina and Adam Breneman at Arizona State.
-- We are aware Jay Graham is no longer at Alabama but, seeing as how the ink is still dry on that contract, we include it here as another data point.
-- James Coley was still getting paid by Georgia when he got to Texas A&M last February, so there's a good chance he joins the $500K club when his Georgia buyout dries up.
-- The story of how Vince Marrow became a $900,000 non-coordinator at Kentucky deserves its own article. In fact, I wrote it when it happened last February.