Big Ten Coaching Salaries, Buyouts: Where PJ Fleck Ranks In 2019

MINNEAPOLIS — With the Minnesota Golden Gophers off to their best start since World War II, head coach PJ Fleck is poised for a big pay raise at the end of the season. Fleck, in his third season at Minnesota, currently has the fourth-lowest salary in the Big Ten conference.

With Ohio State's Urban Meyer now retired from coaching, Michigan's Jim Harbaugh has the highest salary in the conference at $7,504,000 per year.

Dabo Swinney, who coaches Clemson in the ACC, currently makes the most money in college football overall. The defending national champions pay him $9,315,600 per year, according a USA TODAY database. Swinney's contract buyout is $50,000,000.

Here's how all Big Ten football coach salaries stack up in 2019:

1. Michigan, Jim Harbaugh: $7,504,000 (Buyout: $11,687,500)
2. Purdue, Jeff Brohm: $6,600,000 (Buyout: $27,650,000)
3. Penn State, James Franklin: $5,650,000 (Buyout: $16,495,833)
4. Northwestern, Pat Fitzgerald: $5,144,937 (No buyout listed)
5. Nebraska, Scott Frost: $5,000,000 (Buyout: $20,416,667)
6. Iowa, Kirk Ferentz: $4,800,000 (Buyout: $21,571,250)
7. Ohio State, Ryan Day: $4,500,000 (Buyout: $18,750,000)
8. Michigan State, Mark Dantonio: $4,399,437 (Buyout: $7,000,000)
9. Wisconsin, Paul Chryst: $4,150,000 (Buyout: $14,993,055)
10. Illinois, Lovie Smith: $4,000,000 (Buyout: $4,681,818)
11. Minnesota, P.J. Fleck: $3,600,000 (Buyout: $9,291,667)
12. Maryland, Mike Locksley: $2,500,000 (Buyout: $7,502,084)
13. Rutgers, Chris Ash: $2,300,000 (Dismissed this season)
14. Indiana, Tom Allen: $1,805,000 (Buyout: $1,500,000)