New Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp will be among the highest-paid in the country, according to contract details released by the university on Thursday.
Muschamp, 54, was in a semi-retirement phase working as a defensive analyst for Georgia the past two seasons, so Texas had to make it worth his while to jump back in full-time. And that they did.
The 3-year deal is worth $8.4 million in total, running from Dec. 19 of last year through Feb. 28, 2029. His salary starts at $2.7 million with $100,000 annual raises.
Year 1: $2.7 million
Year 2: $2.8 million
Year 3: $2.9 million
Jim Knowles was the highest-paid coordinator in college football last season, earning $3.1 million at Penn State, but he will “just” make $2 million at Tennessee in 2026. Ohio State’s Ryan Patricia signed a 3-year deal around $3 million a year, and LSU’s Blake Baker signed a 3-year deal starting at $3 million and topping out at $3.2 million. Muschamp’s predecessor, Pete Kwiatkowski, was set to earn $2 million had he returned in 2026. His 3-year deal was fully guaranteed but includes offset language.
“Sometimes change is needed,” Steve Sarkisian said back in December. “Sitting in my chair, sometimes you’ve got to make the tough call.”
Sarkisian hired Muschamp to be the “head coach of the defense” and will install a more aggressive style of play. “I think to get to where we want to go and beat some of those top-four-or-five teams in the country right now, there’s a style that you have to play, and you have to do it against the very best,” Sarkisian said.
Most relevant to Muschamp, he became the highest-paid coordinator in college football and the first Texas assistant ever to receive a multi-year contract when he signed a perpetual 1-year deal in 2009 to become the Longhorns’ head coach-in-waiting. That promotion bumped his salary to $900,000.
That arrangement lasted two years, until Muschamp became the head coach at Florida, signing a 5-year deal that averaged $2.75 million.
The Texas job will be Muschamp’s first full-time, sole defensive coordinator role since a 1-year stint at Auburn in 2015. Prior to that, his most-recent defensive coordinator gig was his 3-year run at Texas, 2008-10.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.
