1. Nick Saban

Forbes.com: College Football's Most Powerful Head Coaches

Salary: $5,316,667
Football Budget: $32 million
Team: Alabama Crimson Tide
Conference: SEC

If terminated without cause, Saban is entitled to the full value of his contract's remaining base salary and talent fees, worth about $45 million. The next highest contract buyout on our list is Kirk Ferentz's, worth less than half of Saban's payout. (AP Photo)

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The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.

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College Football... To measure coaching power, we looked at each coach's salary, its proportion of the school's total coaching salaries and athletic expenditures, the football budget at the coach's disposal and how much it would cost the school to terminate his contract before the end of the year.

We excluded the eight coaches whose salary data is not available in USA Today's database of coaches' pay, and we also did not consider any coaches who either lost or left their coaching positions in 2012. (Getty Images)

Sources: USA Today, US Department of Education

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The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
1. Nick Saban Salary: $5,316,667
Football Budget: $32 million
Team: Alabama Crimson Tide
Conference: SEC

If terminated without cause, Saban is entitled to the full value of his contract's remaining base salary and talent fees, worth about $45 million. The next highest contract buyout on our list is Kirk Ferentz's, worth less than half of Saban's payout. (AP Photo)

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The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
2. Gary Patterso... Salary: $3,467,926
Football Budget: $23 million
Team: TCU Horned Frogs
Conference: Big 12

Patterson's annual salary represents more than 5 percent of TCU's athletic expenditures. To put that into context, Saban leads the category with 5.4 percent of Alabama's athletic spending paying for his salary while highly paid coaches like Urban Meyer and Les Miles receive less than 4 percent. (AP Photo)

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3. Urban Meyer Salary: $4,250,000
Football Budget: $30 million
Team: Ohio State Buckeyes
Conference: Big Ten

Meyer may only be in his first season with the Buckeyes, but Ohio State has gone all-in with the former Florida Gators coach. Meyer is the fourth highest-paid college football coach in the country, and only Nick Saban has more spending power at his disposal. (AP Photo)

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The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
4. Bob Stoops Salary: $4,550,000
Football Budget: $20 million
Team: Oklahoma Sooners
Conference: Big 12

Stoops is the nation's third-highest paid college football coach, and with good reason: The Sooners have made a BCS bowl in eight of Stoops' 14 years as the team's head coach. (AP Photo)

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5. Kirk Ferentz Salary: $3,835,000
Football Budget: $18 million
Team: Iowa Hawkeyes
Conference: Big Ten

The Hawkeyes haven't been particularly competitive of late, but Ferentz's contract offers him some incredible job security. If he were to be terminated without cause, Ferentz would be entitled to 75 percent of his remaining contract, worth about $21 million. (Getty Images)

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6. Mack Brown Salary: $5,292,500
Football Budget: $21 million
Team: Texas Longhorns
Conference: Big 12

Brown received a questionable four-year contract extension in January despite the Longhorns failing to make a BCS bowl since 2009. The Longhorns have little reason to be concerned, however, as getting rid of the 15-year head coach would only cost them $3.5 million. (AP Photo)

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7. Mike Gundy Salary: $3,275,000
Football Budget: $23 million
Team: Oklahoma State Cowboys
Conference: Big 12

The Cowboys signed Gundy to an eight-year extension in January that is thought to pay an average $3.7 million annually, but the coach recently entertained offers from Arkansas and Tennessee. Whether he was sincerely interested in the jobs or simply vying for a pay raise remains unclear. (Getty Images)

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8. Steve Spurrie... Salary: $3,550,000
Football Budget: $19 million
Team: South Carolina Gamecocks
Conference: SEC

Spurrier leads all coaches in the category of salary as a percent of his school's coaching budget, collecting nearly half of the money South Carolina pays its coaches. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially because Gamecocks football generates more than half of South Carolina's annual athletic revenue. (AP Photo)

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9. Les Miles Salary: $3,751,000
Football Budget: $20 million
Team: LSU Tigers
Conference: SEC

Miles has college football's sixth-highest salary and fourth-highest termination buyout (just under $19 million), but both numbers may be going higher as the Tigers' head coach is currently in the process of negotiating a contract extension with LSU. (AP Photo)

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10. Chip Kelly Salary: $3,500,000
Football Budget: $17 million
Team: Oregon Ducks
Conference: PAC-12

Kelly collects 5 percent of Oregon's athletic expenditures each year, and terminating his contract would cost the school nearly $12 million. He is widely considered one of the sport's top tacticians and many expect he will entertain offers from NFL teams this offseason. (Getty Images)

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The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
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