Alabama’s Nick Saban may be the best coach money can buy, but Notre Dame is getting the best value for the money spent on the contract for Brian Kelly. That is what Forbes has to say at least, with a ranking of the best coaches for the money published Monday.
To put this list together, Forbes took Sagarin win percentages and a coach’s share of football expenses into consideration. There may be no perfect way to analyze a coach’s value to a program that everyone can agree on, but under the conditions used for this particular ranking this sounds like a good enough way to go about it. Using this method, Kelly comes out on top with the Irish thanks to a 21-5 record and just 3.36 percent of the football program’s expenses.
Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher is ranked second on the list, followed by Saban, Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio and South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier to round out the top five. The highest-ranked coach from outside of the typical power conferences is UCF’s George O’Leary, who is ranked seventh, followed by Fresno State head coach Tim DeRuyter.
You can check out the full list here.