Three University of Michigan assistant football coaches are making at least $1 million annually.
Michigan's football program is the first to have three assistant coaches — defensive coordinator Don Brown, offensive coordinator Tim Drevno, and assistant head coach/pass-game coordinator Pep Hamilton — making $1 million in pay, The Detroit News reported.
Michigan, which finished No. 10 in the final Associated Press poll this past college football season, has the nation's highest paid head football coach in Jim Harbaugh, who made $9 million in 2016, according to USA Today.
Brown, will be paid $1 million annually over the first four years of his contract and $1.4 million in the final year, according to The Detroit News, which obtained the contracts through a Freedom of Information Act request. He signed his contract Dec. 20. The contract includes a $300,000 retention bonus over the first two years and $400,000 in years three and four.
Drevno also has a five-year deal worth $1 million each year, including a $150,000 signing bonus that he penned on Jan. 2, according to The Detroit News.
Hamilton signed a contract Jan. 9 that will pay him $1 million annually over the first three season and $1.25 million in the fourth year of the contract. Hamilton, who received a $150,000 signing bonus, will get a $450,000 retention bonus in the second year and a $250,000 bonus in the third year.
The Detroit Free Press reported that Louisiana State and Alabama both had two assistant coaches making above $1 million last season.
According to USA Today, Nick Saban is the nation's second highest paid college football coach at $6.9 million, followed by Ohio State's Urban Meyer ($6.09 million) and Oklahoma's Bob Stoops ($5.5 million). Dabo Swinney, coach of the national champion Clemson Tigers, is ranked 12th with an annual salary of $4.4 million.
The Free Press reported that Michigan still has an assistant coaching vacancy following running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley leaving for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"In the sense of wanting to keep good people here, wanting them to know their value and the long-term stability on the staff with Jim, it was an investment we made," Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel told the Free Press. "Proud Jim was able to do that."
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