Sooners reward Riley with lucrative new contract
The University of Oklahoma regents made Lincoln Riley one of the top 10 highest-paid coaches in college football on Wednesday, bumping his 2019 salary to $6 million.
Riley made $4.8 million last year.
On top of the $6 million, Riley will receive an annual $700,000 stay bonus for each year he remains with the Sooners, in addition to $150,000 in annual bumps, through the 2023 season.
The school also will play Riley an extra $1 million if he stays at Oklahoma past April 1, 2021. Riley also can net up to $750,000 annually in performance bonuses.
According to USA Today’s annual database, Riley’s salary matches Dan Mullen’s with Florida in ninth place and is $500,000 more than Texas rival Tom Herman’s. The database lists Alabama‘s Nick Saban as No. 1 at $8.3 million, trailed by Michigan‘s Jim Harbaugh and Texas A&M‘s Jimbo Fisher at $7.5 million.
Riley chose to remain with the Sooners despite receiving overtures from the NFL after leading Oklahoma to back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances in his first two seasons as head coach. With him also calling the offensive plays, the Sooners became the first program in history to produce back-to-back Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks in Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray.
The regents also announced that Riley’s new defensive coordinator, Alex Grinch, will make $1.4 million in his first season at Oklahoma.