College Football Coach Buyouts 2026: How They Work and What Schools Owe

A college football coach buyout is the amount a contract says one side must pay when the deal ends early. If a school fires a coach without cause, it usually owes the coach a set amount, often a percentage of the salary left on the contract. If a coach leaves for another job, he usually owes his old school a separate, much smaller figure. Five FBS head coaches were fired between Oct. 21 and Nov. 1, 2026, and Front Office Sports put their combined buyouts at more than $80 million, led by Florida State's Mike Norvell at roughly $47 million to $50.3 million depending on the calculation. Oregon's Dan Lanning would be owed $56.7 million if fired without cause, per USA Today's database (figure as of Dec. 1, 2025), and would owe Oregon $20 million to leave, according to Yahoo Sports.

Updated for the 2026 season.

How do college football coach buyouts work?

A University of Miami Law Review analysis describes three ways a coaching contract ends early: a school fires a coach "without cause," fires him "for cause," or the coach leaves voluntarily. Each triggers a different payment.

Without cause vs. for cause

A firing for losing is a termination without cause, and Front Office Sports notes that the vast majority of firings, even for poor performance, fall into that category. In that case the contract's buyout clause applies, and the school owes the coach the amount it specifies. Contracts commonly frame this payment as liquidated damages, a sum agreed in advance instead of damages argued in court. LSU's contract with Brian Kelly, quoted by Front Office Sports, uses that language: "the amount of liquidated damages owed by LSU."

A firing for cause, typically for misconduct or rules violations defined in the contract, usually eliminates the buyout. The Miami Law Review notes that Tennessee avoided a $12.6 million buyout when it fired Jeremy Pruitt for cause in January 2021. Michigan fired Sherrone Moore for cause in December 2025; CBS Sports reported that his buyout had been listed at $13.89 million and that Michigan "could be off the hook for some (or all)" of it, while noting such cases have ended in court before.

How the amount is set

Most buyouts are calculated as a share of the compensation remaining on the deal. Examples from reporting on actual contract terms:

• Florida State owes Norvell 85% of his remaining salary and supplemental compensation, per the AP and Fox Sports (citing On3).
• LSU would owe Lane Kiffin 80% of his remaining salary if it fired him without cause, per Front Office Sports.

Timing matters too. Because buyouts track the money left on a contract, they shrink as a deal runs down, and some contracts change the figure at specific dates. The Miami Law Review notes that Nebraska owed Scott Frost almost $15 million after firing him on Sept. 11, 2022, but would have owed about $7.5 million had it waited until Oct. 1. Fox Sports reported that firing Norvell during the 2026 season cost Florida State about $50.3 million, versus roughly $45.6 million had it waited until after the season.

Offset and mitigation clauses

Many contracts reduce what the school owes once the fired coach finds new work. USA Today's methodology for its salary database states that many buyout amounts "are expressly subject to coach's duty to make good-faith efforts to find another job, with income from that employment offsetting the amount owed." Kelly's LSU contract, as quoted by Front Office Sports, required him to "exercise due diligence and good faith in seeking qualifying employment," and reduced the buyout by football-related earnings from coaching, administration or media.

Not every contract has one. Texas A&M's deal with Jimbo Fisher had no offset, so the school remained responsible for a buyout of more than $75 million while he worked as an ACC Network analyst, per Front Office Sports. Kiffin's LSU contract also has no offset or duty to mitigate. Offsets can also push both sides toward a settlement: Front Office Sports reported that James Franklin, whose Penn State buyout was close to $50 million with an offset clause, agreed to a $9 million lump sum before taking the Virginia Tech job.

Lump sum or monthly payments

Buyouts are rarely paid all at once. USA Today notes the amount "may be owed to coach over an extended period of time, rather than as a lump sum." Contract schedules vary widely:

• Maryland owes Mike Locksley half of his buyout within 60 days, per CBS Sports and Front Office Sports.
• NC State owes Dave Doeren a little more than $600,000 within 30 days, then may pay the rest in monthly installments, per CBS Sports.
• Fox Sports, citing On3, reported Norvell's buyout would be paid in monthly installments of roughly $800,000 through 2031.

Which coaches have been fired in 2026 and what are their buyouts?

Front Office Sports reported that 2026 was the first season since 2019, excluding 2020, in which no FBS head coach was fired before Oct. 1. The carousel then moved quickly in late October. The figures below are as reported; offsets, if a contract has one, can lower the final cost.

Notes on the 2026 firings

Norvell's figure varies by outlet. The AP put it at about $47 million, 85% of his remaining salary through the 2031 season, and noted that buying out his assistants would push the total well past $50 million. Fox Sports and Front Office Sports reported $50.3 million; CBS Sports used nearly $49 million. Front Office Sports called it the third-highest buyout in college football history, behind Fisher at Texas A&M and Kelly at LSU.

Baylor is a private school and does not release coaching contracts the way public schools must, CBS Sports noted, so Aranda's figure comes from reporting by Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger rather than a published contract.

For scale, InvestigateTV reported that the 15 FBS head coaches fired in 2025 carried contracted buyouts worth a combined $228 million, the largest total on record.

What is Dan Lanning's buyout at Oregon?

Lanning's buyout runs in both directions.

• If Oregon fired him without cause: $56,733,333, per USA Today's coaches salary database, which lists the amount a school would owe if it fired a coach without cause on Dec. 1, 2025. The same database lists his 2025 school pay at $10.4 million.
• If Lanning left for another job: $20 million. Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger reported that the buyout remained unchanged at $20 million in the amended six-year contract Lanning agreed to in March 2025, per FootballScoop.

FootballScoop also reported that the amended deal runs through the 2030 season, averages nearly $11 million a year and is fully guaranteed, which it described as rare in college football. USA Today's figure is tied to a firing date of Dec. 1, 2025; the amount owed on a school's side generally falls as a contract runs down. National Football Post's report on Lanning's raise covers the deal's terms when it was signed.

What are the biggest current coach buyouts?

The table below, as of Nov. 11, 2026, shows what a school would owe if it fired its coach without cause and, where reported, what the coach would owe to leave. Most figures come from USA Today's database and reflect a firing date of Dec. 1, 2025. Those amounts decline as each contract runs down, so a firing after the 2026 season would generally cost less. Private schools such as Baylor do not release coaching contracts the way public schools must, per CBS Sports, and coaches whose figures could not be verified are left out.

Front Office Sports estimated in December 2025 that LSU would owe Kiffin $72 million if it fired him immediately and $62 million if it fired him after the 2026 season, when $78 million would remain on his seven-year, $91 million deal.

Who pays when a coach leaves for another job?

When a coach resigns to take another job, the buyout flows the other way: the coach owes his former school the amount in his contract. The Miami Law Review describes this as working "similar to a fine," paid by "the coach or their new employer." Departure buyouts can be far smaller than what a school owes when it fires a coach. Lanning's $20 million departure figure compares with $56.7 million on Oregon's side, and Kiffin's $7 million exit figure at LSU compares with tens of millions LSU would owe him.

In practice the hiring school often agrees to cover the departure buyout as part of the deal, so the coach does not pay it personally. When Kiffin left Ole Miss for LSU after the 2025 regular season, Front Office Sports reported that LSU agreed to pay his $3 million Ole Miss buyout. Fox Sports reported that LSU also took on the College Football Playoff bonuses Kiffin would have earned at Ole Miss, from $150,000 for a first-round appearance up to $1 million for a national title.

The same logic applies to fired coaches who are hired elsewhere. If the fired coach's contract includes an offset, his new salary reduces what his former school still owes, and some coaches, like Franklin at Penn State, have accepted a smaller lump-sum settlement before signing a new deal.

Related reference pages

• College Football Playoff Format Explained: How the 2026-27 Playoff Works
• College Football Transfer Portal and NIL Rules Explained

Sources

• CFB Firings Tracker: Norvell's firing brings buyouts to more than $80 million (Oct. 24, 2026, updated Nov. 10, 2026) — Front Office Sports
• The buyout economics of the 2026-27 coaching carousel: Florida State faces steep Mike Norvell payout (Oct. 25, 2026, updated Nov. 1, 2026) — CBS Sports
• FSU fires football coach Mike Norvell and takes on his buyout of nearly $50 million (Nov. 1, 2026) — Associated Press via WUSF
• How Much Does Mike Norvell Get After Firing? Contract, Buyout Details (November 2026) — Fox Sports
• College Football Head Coach Salaries database, 2025 contract season, buyouts as of Dec. 1, 2025 — USA Today
• Dan Lanning reportedly agrees to amended deal that will put him among highest paid coaches in college football (March 6, 2025) — FootballScoop
• Report: Oregon's Dan Lanning to get big raise — National Football Post
• Lane Kiffin's LSU Deal Includes Huge Buyout With No Offset (Dec. 1, 2025) — Front Office Sports
• From Ole Miss Bonuses to Buyout Incentives: Detailing Lane Kiffin's New LSU Deal (Dec. 2, 2025) — Fox Sports
• College football coach buyouts may not be what they seem (Oct. 27, 2025) — Front Office Sports
• Sherrone Moore buyout: What's left on the Michigan coach's contract after he was fired 'for cause' (Dec. 10, 2025) — CBS Sports
• College football buyouts reach record $228 million in 2025 as fans demand reform (Jan. 12, 2026) — InvestigateTV via WECT
• Getting Sacked: the Contract Buyout Clause Cost of College Athletics (2022) — University of Miami Law Review