Incentivized Coaches Contacts Could Fix Major Buyout Issues In College Football
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There's been a lot of discussion this offseason around the amount of money players are bringing in on an annual basis. Schools are spending tens of millions of dollars annually on constructing, what they believe are, championship caliber rosters. There's been discussions around capping NIL opportunities and the amount players can earn, but there's rarely discussions around limiting major buyouts for college coaches.
Let me start off by saying, I'm not a fan of any cap whether that's for players and their NIL opportunities or a coach's salary. Having said that, there has to be a smarter way for schools like Florida State or LSU to move on from a head coach while still maintaining the protections contract buy outs provide for fired head coaches. The fix is simple: schools should push for incentivized contracts for head coaches.
Florida State is a prime example of why this should be utilized in the future. Head coach Mike Norvell signed a significant contract extension following their spectacular 2023 season. Unfortunately, Norvell and the Seminoles have a combined record of 7-17 since he signed that contract. Understandably so, Florida State signed him to that extension following a 10-3 season in 2022 and a 13-1 season in 2023, but those are his only two winning seasons in Tallahassee.
The Seminoles are one of the more iconic programs in college football, but the situation they're in is bad. As of November of 2025, Norvell's buyout would be $58.7 million according to USA TODAY Sports. His buyout is based on 85% of his remaining salary and supplemental pay which runs through 2031.
Contract incentivization, in theory, would eliminate a coach's buyout being around the maximum earning potential of their contracts and be based around a lower base. Financial incentives should be put in place around making the conference championship, making the playoffs, number of playoff wins or making it to the national championship game. Some contracts have those in place, but maintain an extremely high 'base salary' as well.
Incentivized contracts also still provide coaches with protections if a school elects to fire them. Look at James Franklin at Penn State. Less than a year after his team made the College Football Playoff Semi-Finals and played for the Big 10 championship, he was out of a job, and his buyout ensured he wouldn't be left out to dry. Initially, Franklin would have been owed $49 million to $50 million, but due to some negotiations, Franklin ended up being owed $9 million according to CBS Sports after getting hired at Virginia Tech.
With the influx of money coming into top-level college football programs with player's earning potential, upgrades in facilities and traveling budgets due to conference realignment, schools like Florida State have been pigeon-holed into holding onto a head coach that has four losing seasons compared to two winning seasons because they can't afford his buyout. More schools should push for incentivized contracts.
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