“I’m telling you right now: I don’t know what my contract is here. That’s not very financially responsible. I’m sure it’s really good, okay?” Kiffin said Monday, pointing to people gathered at the side of the stage, including LSU athletic director Verge Auberry, who introduced Kiffin before the news conference.
Kiffin later said he didn’t know any contract details from the other schools (including Florida and Ole Miss) that were courting him, and said he told his agent Jimmy Sexton not to show him the numbers.
“I said at the beginning, I told Jimmy Sexton, ‘Don’t show me the numbers. I want to make a decision that has nothing to do with money, for me,'” Kiffin said. “Tell me the numbers and the plan on what the money is for the players, because for me that’s everything in that area. Not what I make, what they make, to understand how this can be built.”
Although Kiffin may not know what’s in his own contract, Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports reports that Kiffin received a seven-year, $90 million deal from LSU. Under that deal, Kiffin will earn nearly $13 million a year, plus incentives, including bonuses if Ole Miss plays and advances in the College Football Playoff this season.
Advertisement
Kiffin becomes the second-highest-paid head coach under the deal, trailing only Georgia’s Kirby Smart, who earns about $13.3 million a year in base salary.
But, as Kiffin says, his own salary matters less than the investment in the program. According to Dellenger, LSU also promised investments in its workforce of more than $25 million. On Monday, Kiffin indicated that the NIL commitments were more important to him than his own compensation, and that it was one of the final factors in his decision.
“I actually asked about my contract today, not the numbers, I don’t know them yet, and I said ‘hey, in case they ask me about it,'” Kiffin said. “Basically, all four were extremely similar contracts to me, but in the process of discovering the NIL packages, they were not similar.
“Those weren’t the same. And that’s a big part of it.”