NFL Head Coach Salaries

Only those in the inner circles know how much NFL coaches earn as such financial attributes of the contract are often kept out of the public domain by the management. More importantly, people are more interested in knowing how much NFL players earn - and not how much NFL coaches earn. Though the cases are rare, the salary is made public at the press events just after the team management brings in a new coach or when the existing coach signs an extension contract. At all other times, such scoops only make it to the public knowledge through some highly placed 'sources'.

NFL Head Coach Salaries

NFL coaches are known to earn in millions, and perhaps that's what makes the position of a head coach in NFL desirable to such an extent. At the pro level, there is no dearth of money and fame, however there do come a lot of responsibilities along with the fame and money. A look at the track record of head coaches of 32 teams playing in the National Football league highlights the responsibility factor very well. Each of these 32 head coaches earn in millions - with the highest paid coach taking home an annual paycheck of US$7.5 million. That being said the average salary of NFL head coaches is approximately US$3.2 million (which is calculated by adding the salaries of all the 32 coaches and dividing the sum total by 32). Even though they do not feature among the top earners, even coordinators, coaches who are in their very first year and assistant coaches earn a decent pay in this flourishing league.

Highest Earning NFL Head Coach

As of today, the highest paid coach in the NFL is Bill Belichick, the head coach for the New England Patriots, with an annual salary of US$7.5 million. After working as an assistant coach under Bill Parcells and a brief not-so-successful stint as the head coach for Cleveland Browns, Belichick finally became the head coach for Patriots in 2000. With Belichick as their coach, New England Patriots went on to win three Super Bowl championships and four American Football Conference championships, the latest of which came in 2007. In the same year, Belichick signed a six year extension with the Patriots for a whopping US$7.5 million a year, which put him ahead of all his counterparts at the numero uno position in the list of highest paid coaches.

Highest Paid NFL Coaches

Earlier this year, Green Bay Packers defeated Pittsburgh Steelers to win the prestigious Super Bowl XLV. Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has been featuring in the list of highest paid NFL coaches for quite some time now, but a win in the Super Bowl has propelled Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy in this list, thus bringing in about a minor change in the equations in the lower half of the table. Given below are the details of the same.

Rank Name Team Winning Percentage Annual Salary

1 Bill Belichick New England Patriots .633 $7.5 million

2 Mike Shanahan Washington Redskins .585 $7 million

3 Pete Carroll Seattle Seahawks .500 $6.7 million

4 Ken Whisenhunt Arizona Cardinals .500 $5.75 million

4 Mike Tomlin Pittsburgh Steelers .672 $5.75 million

6 Andy Reid Philadelphia Eagles .618 $5.5 million

6 Mike McCarthy Green Bay Packers .600 $5.5 million

8 Tom Coughlin New York Giants .554 $5.25 million

9 Jack Del Rio Jacksonville Jaguars .508 $5 million

10 Lovie Smith Chicago Bears .563 $4.8 million

The team management looks into several matters before offering someone the contract, and these are the lucky few who got through the set criterion owing to their amazing feats in the recent times. With so much of money involved, it would be least surprising to see the changes in the list some time in near future and the entry of McCarthy in the list this past week hints at this very fact.