Here’s how much Dabo Swinney and Clemson coaches will make in bonuses for ACC, CFP
The Clemson football team is headed to the College Football Playoff, and its coaching staff will pick up some extra holiday money as a result.
Coach Dabo Swinney and his 10 assistant coaches earned just over $1.6 million in bonuses as a result of the Tigers beating SMU in the ACC championship game Saturday night, and being placed in the 12-team CFP bracket on Sunday.
The Tigers (10-3) are the No. 12 seed in the bracket and will play a first-round game at No. 5 Texas (11-2) on Saturday, Dec. 21 in Austin, Texas. The game will kick off at 4 p.m. on TNT, and the winner advances to play No. 4 Arizona State in the Peach Bowl.
According to contracts obtained by The State via public records request, those events triggered a combined $1,607,500 in bonuses for Swinney and his 10 lead assistants — a number that could grow, depending on how Clemson performs in the Playoff.
Swinney, who won his ninth ACC championship Saturday, was the biggest earner with $400,000 in bonuses. The Tigers’ coach is making $11 million in total salary this year and added a $50,000 bonus for qualifying for the ACC championship; a $200,000 bonus for winning the game; and a $150,000 bonus for a CFP appearance.
All 10 of Clemson’s assistant coaches, including offensive coordinator Garrett Riley and defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin, have also earned more than $120,000 in bonuses to date.
New bonus structure for assistants
Under a new contract structure approved this summer by the Clemson board of trustees compensation committee to account for the expanded playoff, Clemson assistant coaches each received 20% of their base salary for the Tigers’ ACC championship win over the Mustangs.
Although supplemental compensation can vary drastically among assistant coaches — Riley, for example, makes about 80% of his $1.75 million total salary off supplemental salary — every Clemson assistant has the same base salary: $345,000.
The changes amount to a flat-rate 20% bonus of $69,000 for each Clemson assistant coach because the team’s ACC title. Had Clemson lost the game to SMU, each coach instead would’ve received a 10% bonus of $34,500 for the Tigers appearing.
Each assistant also got a 15% bonus of $51,750 for Clemson making the CFP.
That’s $120,750 total in bonuses so far for each assistant. Here’s a list of each Clemson coach it will apply to, along with their current total salary (pre-bonus).
▪ OC/QBs coach Garret Riley, $1.75 million
▪ DC/LBs coach Wes Goodwin, $1.4 million
▪ DTs coach Nick Eason, $1.1 million
▪ OL coach Matt Luke, $975,000
▪ DEs coach Chris Rumph, $950,000
▪ Safeties coach Mickey Conn, $900,000
▪ CBs coach Mike Reed, $900,000
▪ TEs coach Kyle Richardson, $600,000
▪ RBs coach CJ Spiller, $550,000
▪ WRs coach Tyler Grisham, $550,000
Swinney would not receive a direct bonus if the Tigers (currently an 11-point underdog) were to upset Texas in their Dec. 21 first-round CFP game, but Clemson’s assistant coaches would.
Those 10 coaches’ CFP bonuses are not cumulative, meaning they cannot be stacked on top of each other. But if Clemson were to beat Texas, all assistant coaches would all earn a 20% base salary bonus of $69,000 (instead of the current 15% bonus) for advancing to the second/quarterfinal round of the playoff.
If Clemson beats Texas, the Tigers would move on to face No. 4 Arizona State, the Big 12 champion, in the Jan. 1 Peach Bowl quarterfinal game.
The CFP bonus for assistants would jump to 25% with a semifinal appearance, 30% with a national championship appearance and 40% with a national championship.
Swinney’s contract bonuses are cumulative, so he can earn additional money on top of the $400,000 he’s already earned if Clemson makes a CFP semifinal, appears in the national championship game and/or wins the national championship game.
More money, thanks to ACC
Clemson’s athletic department will also see a tangible financial benefit from the football team’s ACC championship game and CFP appearance.
Under the ACC’s new “success initiative” that kicks in for the 2024-25 athletic year, Clemson will receive an additional $4 million from the conference for making the College Football Playoff; $1.6 million for being bowl-eligible; and another $1.6 million for finishing in the CFP Top 25 rankings. The Tigers finished No. 17, the lowest ranking among the 12 teams in the bracket.
Those bonuses, as detailed by the Virginian-Pilot’s David Teel on Monday, add up to $7.2 million in additional revenue for Clemson (and CFP at-large qualifier SMU).
The ACC will eventually distribute the bonus money to Clemson on top of its annual conference payout, which was roughly $46.5 million for fiscal year 2023, according to tax documents. The Tigers were on the higher end of the average $44.8 million distributed to member schools.
Those are sizable rewards for a university that remains in an active legal battle with its own conference surrounding media rights, revenue and possible expansion.
This story was originally published December 10, 2024 at 7:00 AM.
