Deion Sanders isn’t just staying in Boulder—he’s getting paid like one of the biggest names in the sport.
With his brand-new five-year, $54 million contract extension at Colorado, Coach Prime is no longer just a headline-maker, he’s one of the highest-paid coaches in college football. The deal averages out to over $10 million per year and escalates to $12 million by the final season. That kind of money doesn’t just keep him in Boulder, it will put him in some elite company at the top of the country.
Though Sanders will now have to replace two of his stars with his son Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter now entering the NFL Draft, there are reasons to believe that he'll still be able to have success in Colorado considering the amount of talent he's been able to accumulate in recruiting both high school and in the Transfer Portal.
The Highest Paid College Football Coaches in the Country
Here’s how the top of the college football salary ladder stacks up after Coach Prime’s extension, according to Spotrac.
- Kirby Smart (Georgia) – $13.2 million
- Ryan Day (Ohio State) – $12.5 million
- Dabo Swinney (Clemson) – $11.1 million
- Deion Sanders (Colorado) – $10.8 million (average across the deal)
- Steve Sarkisian (Texas) – $10.6 million
For Sanders, cracking the top four this quickly is almost unheard of. Most coaches spend years climbing the ladder. Deion has done it in just a couple of years at the Power Four level.
And it’s not just about what he's done so far. It’s about what he’s building. A 9-4 season in 2024 was a massive leap forward for Colorado, especially after a rough 4-8 debut and years of irrelevance before his arrival. The College Football Playoff is expanding, the recruiting classes seem to be trending in the right direction, and Sanders has made Boulder one of the most talked-about destinations in the sport.