As the dollars continue to roll, Alabama football has the best deal in CFB

Urban Meyer gets a raise to take him above Harbaugh and again, the Alabama football contract with Nick Saban is the best deal in CFB.

Across the nation, particularly outside the South, much fun is made at Alabama’s expense. Alabama football despite its unmatched success is not immune. A frequent claim is the University of Alabama and its legion of devoted fans place an inordinately high value on college football. Supposedly more damning is our avowed obsession with winning.

To that we say, guilty as charged. If our passion goes beyond the bounds of reason, then few other Power Five programs are entitled to cast stones. Let us begin with B1G hypocrites, Ohio State and Michigan. Fans of the B1G somehow believe the B1G is the top CFB conference. Surely they do not mean in the 21st century. Eighteen national championships have been awarded this century (19, if the 2003 split is counted) and the B1G has won two.

During that period the SEC has won 10 national championships, five of them by the University of Alabama. In fairness to Ohio State, the Buckeyes have won two which is also the total for the B1G. Apparently, that qualifies Urban Meyer to be college football’s highest-paid coach in 2018 at $7.6 million.

Let’s be honest. Urban Meyer is a great coach. His superb record allows him to overcome the fact that he could not handle the pressure of competing against Nick Saban and Alabama football. Trying to do so was reported to have placed his health at risk.

So The Ohio State University can honor Urban with the current biggest contract with no explanation. Raising Urban to $7.6 million was necessary because Michigan in its superior wisdom is paying Jim Harbaugh $7.5 million.

Paying Harbaugh $7.5 million is insane

Any college football fan, not a Wolverine, knows Harbaugh is ridiculously overpaid. Meyer owns Harbaugh in head-to-head games, though that is no feat of which to brag. No coach in the SEC makes such disproportionately laughable money. Though Joe Alleva’s deal with Ed Orgeron is not far behind. Coach O only makes $3.5 million but his buyout for 2018 is $8.5 million.

The exact amount of Jimbo Fisher’s new TAMU, 2018 salary is not known. What is known is that the contract is for $75 million over 10 seasons and is fully guaranteed.

Yes we are gloating, but we have another message

The purpose of this story is not just to gloat. Alabama football has by far the best coach in CFB at only $7.125 in 2018. Anyone failing to acknowledge that is the best deal in college football is clueless. But there is more to our message. You can’t best Alabama football by just paying Alabama football money, or even by paying more.

A salary does not make any coach the best. Overpay all you want, but too much sizzle and too little substance coaches, like Orgeron and Harbaugh, will not win national championships. Schools are better off with a Nick Saban clone, except that hasn’t worked all that well either.

Next: 5 Reasons the Tide Repeats in '18

Whether it is good or bad, the reality is only about 40 college football programs have a chance to win a national championship in any given season. The rest should strive for less and save millions.