Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney 2025 contract details: Salary, buyout and more
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Clemson‘s Dabo Swinney is the No. 4 highest-paid coach in college football, according to USA TODAY’s 2025 compensation survey. The Tigers coach is set to earn a total of $11,382,775, not including bonuses, which ranks No. 1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
USA TODAY’s available data does not include total pay figures for ACC members Boston College, Duke, Stanford, Syracuse or Wake Forest
Amounts for coaches at private schools or Pittsburgh are based the schools’ most recently available financial records, which cover the 2023 calendar year and include all forms of pay from the school, including bonuses.
Here’s everything you need to know about Swinney’s contract with Clemson in 2025.
View the entire 2025 college football coach salary database here
How much does Clemson pay Dabo Swinney in 2025?
Clemson is scheduled to pay Swinney $11,258,575 for the 2025 season. But that number could go up based on potential bonuses. Bonuses paid for 2024-25 includes $100,000 connected with team academic achievement that was allocated among the staff.
How much is Dabo Swinney’s buyout at Clemson in 2025?
As of Dec. 1, 2025, if the school fires Swinney wihout cause, he would be set to recieve $60,000,000, which ranks as the No. 5.0 most expensive buyout out of the 105 USA TODAY’s could review and No. 1.0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
USA TODAY’s available data does not include buyout figures for ACC members Boston College, Duke, Miami (Fla.), Pittsburgh, SMU Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia Tech or Wake Forest
All buyout figures are calculated using the same hypothetical date of a coach’s separation with their school. Many of buyout clauses reviewed by USA TODAY are expressly subject to coach’s duty to make good-faith efforts to find another job, with income from that employment offsetting the amount owed. If mitigation and offset are not addressed in contract, the coach may still have an obligation to make efforts in that regard. The amount listed may be owed to coach over an extended period of time, rather than as a lump sum at termination. Amount may not take into account per-day pro-rating for a partial contract year.
How much can Dabo Swinney earn in bonuses in 2025?
The most Swinney can earn in bonuses from Clemson for the 2025-26 season and school year is $1,500,000, which ranks as the No. T37 greatest possible total out of the 111 that USA TODAY could review. Swinney’s maximum bonus ranks No. 5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
USA TODAY’s available data does not include bonus figures for ACC members Boston College, Duke, Miami (Fla.), Pittsburgh, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse or Wake Forest
To see the methodology behind these data, click here.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney 2025 contract details: Salary, buyout and more
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