When the Indiana Hoosiers and Miami Hurricanes take the field at Hard Rock Stadium for the College Football Playoff National Championship, the scoreboard will start at 0-0. But in the bank accounts of the two men roaming the sidelines, the score is already in the stratosphere.
This year’s title game features a fascinating collision of financial arcs between two men who have transcended the economics of college sports. Mario Cristobal and Curt Cignetti have not just climbed the coaching ladder; they have kicked it down and replaced it with a golden elevator.
They are among the highest-paid coaches in college football. When Mario Cristobal’s salary and Curt Cignetti’s salary are totaled up, both head coaches make more per year than the vast majority of NFL stars. Here is the financial tale of the tape for a championship matchup no one saw coming.
The Early Grind: Waiting vs. Rising
Both coaches spent time in the Nick Saban “coaching rehabilitation” school at Alabama, but their entry points into head coaching wealth could not have been more different.
For Cristobal, the financial ascent was relatively linear. After cutting his teeth as a Graduate Assistant at Miami in the late 90s, he landed his first head coaching gig at FIU in 2007. His salary was modest for the time—roughly $350,000—but it put him on the map. By the time he was fired and subsequently hired by Saban in 2013, he was earning over $500,000 as an assistant. He was always in the “major college” conversation.
Cignetti’s path was an exercise in extreme patience. In 2010, he was actually earning more than Cristobal as Alabama’s wide receivers coach ($250,000). But in 2011, he made a gamble that looked financially insane at the time: he took a 50% pay cut to become the head coach at Division II IUP. For six years, while Cristobal was winning national titles as a Bama assistant and preparing for a massive payday at Oregon, Cignetti was grinding out wins in Pennsylvania for $125,000 a year.
(Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
The Breakout: Oregon vs. James Madison
The gap widened significantly in the late 2010s.
By 2018, Cristobal had taken the reins at Oregon. His salary jumped from $2.5 million to over $4.5 million by 2021 as he restored the Ducks to glory. He was firmly established as a “Power Five” millionaire.
Meanwhile, Cignetti was still climbing the lower rungs. In 2019, he took over at James Madison (then FCS). His salary was $425,000. Even as he dominated the competition and successfully transitioned the program to the FBS level, his compensation in 2023 was just $677,000—less than the league minimum for an NFL rookie.
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
The Explosion: The 2024-2026 Shift
This is where the lines on the graph intersect and then skyrocket.
Cristobal’s move to Miami in 2022 reset the market. His 10-year, $80 million deal came with a front-loaded record-breaker: in his first year, he earned $22.7 million (a figure inflated by Miami covering his massive Oregon buyout and the taxes on it). Since then, his “cruising altitude” salary has been a steady $8.3 million.
Cignetti, however, has pulled off the financial comeback of the century. After proving his worth instantly at Indiana in 2024 (earning a bargain $4.5 million base), the market corrected violently in his favor.
Following the Hoosiers’ historic playoff run, Indiana locked him down with an eight-year, $93 million extension. His average annual value (AAV) now sits at $11.6 million.
In a stunning reversal, the man who was making $138,000 a decade ago is now earning $3 million more per season than the man who has been a head coach at major programs for years.
Tale of the Tape: 2026 Season Salary
Here is how the two coaches stack up entering the title game:
2026 Base Salary:
- Curt Cignetti: ~$11.6 Million
- Mario Cristobal: ~$8.3 Million
Total Career Earnings (Estimated):
- Curt Cignetti: ~$28 Million
- Mario Cristobal: ~$75 Million
Buyout (If Fired Without Cause):
- Curt Cignetti: ~$80 Million
- Mario Cristobal: ~$62 Million
Current Contract Length:
- Curt Cignetti: Through 2033
- Mario Cristobal: Through 2031
The Verdict
On Monday night, Curt Cignetti and Mario Cristobal play for a trophy. But in a profession where money is the ultimate scoreboard, both men have already taken home the championship.
