Ranking Big 12 head coach salaries: Where does Joey McGuire rank?

One of the youngest head coaches in the country, 34-year-old Kenny Dillingham just completed his first season at Arizona State after being the offensive coordinator at Memphis, Auburn, Florida State, and Oregon. Last season, he earned $3.8 million for what was a doomed mission. That is good for 52nd nationally.

Saddled with a university-imposed postseason ban, Arizona State had little to play for in 2023 and it showed. The Sun Devils went 3-9 overall and 2-7 in PAC 12 play. Considering the mess Dillingham inherited from his predecessor, Herm Edwards, he is certainly earning every dime of his contract as he tries to rebuild that program.

Neal Brown entered 2023 on the hot seat but managed to rattle off a 9-win season to save his job. Thus, the $4.0 million he made (48th nationally) was well-earned.

Interestingly, Brown agreed to a one-year extension this March that takes him through the 2027 season. What's unusual is that he agreed to take a $400,000 pay cut in order to get those extra years of security in Morgantown.

In 2021, Matt Campbell was the toast of college football after leading Iowa State to the 2020 Big 12 Championship Game. That year he signed a contract extension to pay him $4.0 million per year through the 2028 season. That makes him No. 47 nationally.

Since then, Campbell has not won more than seven games in a season. That included a 4-8 mark in 2022 that saw his team going just 1-8 in Big 12 play. Campbell is no longer one of the hot names in the coaching world so it is good for him that he struck his deal when his fire was brightest.

Joey McGuire checks in at $4.1 million per year. He's signed through 2027 and last fall he was the No. 45 highest-paid head coach in the nation.

In two years at Texas Tech, Joey McGuire has somewhat stabilized the program. He has taken the Red Raiders to bowl wins in each of his first two seasons, making him the first head coach to win back-to-back bowl games at Texas Tech since Mike Leach.