Where the Raiders Coach's $10 Million-a-Year Deal Ranks Among U.S. CEOs

• January 09 2018
• Brandon Kochkodin, Eben Novy-Williams

Jon Gruden’s new contract with football’s Oakland Raiders -- estimated in the $10 million a year neighborhood -- makes him one of the highest paid coaches in any U.S. sport. And when compared to CEO compensation, it’s not bad either.

Jon Gruden’s new contract with football’s Oakland Raiders -- estimated in the $10 million a year neighborhood -- makes him one of the highest paid coaches in any U.S. sport. And when compared to CEO compensation, it’s not bad either.

Gruden, lately an ESPN TV analyst, signed a 10-year contract with the Raiders today, returning to the team where he got his first head-coaching job 20 years ago.

Teams don’t typically disclose what they pay their coaches but there are some clues that suggest how extraordinarily rich Gruden’s contract is. New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, as successful as they come, is said to make around $12.5 million a year, while Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs, another multiple-title coach, has been rumored to get about $11 million a year.

On the college level, University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban, whose team just won the national championship -- again -- was paid roughly $11 million this year including a retention bonus. Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski gets around $9.7 million a year, according to the school’s 2011 federal tax return.

In corporate America, Gruden’s $10 million would make him the 360th highest paid CEO in the S&P 500 index. It’s not on the level of, say, Les Moonves, who last year earned about $70 million as head of CBS, the network that broadcasts AFC games.

But it’s in the neighborhood of Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. CEO Christopher Swift and Boston Properties Inc. boss Owen Thomas. Hartford and Boston Properties each boast market caps just shy of $20 billion. The Raiders are said to be worth about $2 billion.