Average NFL Head Coach Salary: How Much Do NFL Head Coaches Make in a Year?

Being a head coach in the NFL is arguably one of the most difficult tasks in sports. While the job security is low, coaches are well-compensated financially.

Leading an NFL team, which can at some point near 100 players in size, is no simple process. Head coaches have to build strategies, manage players, coordinate with other coaches and the front office, and when things go wrong, take all the blame.

That’s not an exhaustive list by any means, but it gives an idea of why the job is so stressful. On top of this, the road to the top is long and difficult, but once you get there, you’re heavily scrutinized and can be fired at any moment.

At a time when there is much debate over how much athletes and coaches should be paid, it is natural to wonder how much NFL head coaches earn in general. Here’s what the numbers tell us:

• Taking the mean of all current head coaches for whom data is available (25 of them), an NFL Head Coach Earns $6.692 million annually, on average.
• The median salary from the available coaches is $5.5 million.

The remaining 7 coaches are mainly newly appointed ones, so the financial aspect of their contracts is still a mystery. However, coaches like Matt Nagy and Sean McDermott’s salaries are simply not publicly available.

Also read: “Trying to stop Tom Brady from practicing is pretty tough”: Bruce Arians comments on Tom Brady and his injury rehab.

List of all NFL Head Coach Salaries 2021

1. Bill Belichick – $12 Million
2. Urban Meyer – $12 Million (reportedly)
3. Pete Carroll – $11 Million
4. Jon Gruden – $10 Million
5. Sean Payton – $9.8 Million
6. John Harbaugh – $9 Million
7. Matt Rhule – $8.5 Million
8. Sean McVay – $8.5 Million
9. Mike Tomlin – $8 Million
10. Andy Reid – $8 Million
11. Bruce Arians – $8 Million
12. Ron Rivera – $7 Million
13. Kliff Kingsbury – $5.5 Million
14. Robert Saleh – $5 Million
15. Joe Judge – $5 Million
16. Matt LaFleur – $5 Million
17. Vic Fangio – $5 Million
18. Frank Reich – $4.5 Million
19. Zac Taylor – $4.5 Million
20. Mike McCarthy – $4 Million
21. Mike Zimmer – $4 Million
22. Kevin Stefanski – $3.5 Million
23. Kyle Shanahan – $3.5 Million
24. Mike Vrabel – $3 Million
25. Brian Flores – $3 Million

Note: The salaries of David Culley, Matt Nagy, Sean McDermott, Brandon Staley, Dan Campbell, Nick Sirianni, and Arthur Smith are unknown.