Alabama gives Nick Saban 8-year deal worth more than $74 million

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Alabama coach Nick Saban still reigns supreme over college football – in national titles and annual pay.

The university announced a new eight-year deal Friday worth at least $74.4 million, which would appear to make Saban again college football’s highest-paid coach based on annual salary.

The agreement runs through the 2025 season, boosting his average annual pay to $9.3 million if he sticks around for the duration.

“Our family is thrilled to agree to a contract extension with the University of Alabama that will keep us in Tuscaloosa for the rest of our coaching career,” Saban said in a statement.

Saban gets a one-year extension with a sizable raise for the 66-year-old coach, who has led the Crimson Tide to five national championships over the past nine seasons.

Ohio State’s Urban Meyer is set to make at least $7.6 million this season. Texas A&M gave Jimbo Fisher a 10-year, $75 million deal. Both Auburn’s Gus Malzahn and Georgia’s Kirby Smart are scheduled to make $7 million annually under seven-year deals, and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh also pulls in $7 million a year. Clemson’s Dabo Swinney falls just shy of that mark under his new deal .

Saban and fellow Alabama icon Bear Bryant are the only major college football coaches to win six national titles, including Saban’s 2003 BCS crown at LSU. Alabama is 125-14 over the past decade with five Southeastern Conference championships.