Five years with a stable salary — or job — is a long time in college football.
LSU coach Les Miles may no longer be part of that rare breed.
The LSU System Board of Supervisors will vote on an amendment to Miles’ contract Friday, giving the coach his first raise since early 2008 when he was months removed from a BCS National Championship.
The proposal pushes Miles’ annual salary from $3.75 million per year to $4.3 million and would make him the fourth-highest paid coach in college football.
He’ll be the fifth college coach to boast a $4 million-plus salary.
New contract talks surfaced following Arkansas’ brief flirtation with Miles for its coaching vacancy back in November, and an LSU news release said the amendment was agreed upon in principle in December.
It’s hardly a surprise that another Southeastern Conference school had anything to do with bolstering top-flight coaching salaries.
In 2012, the SEC had eight of the top 25 coaching salaries in the NCAA. One of those coaches, Auburn’s Gene Chizik, was fired in November.
Arkansas eventually hired Bret Bielema for $3.2 million annually, immediately placing him among the top 10 highest paid coaches.
But Miles ultimately won’t be judged against Bielema, South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier — who makes $3.59 million a year — or even Georgia’s Mark Richt and his $2.93 million annual salary.
Miles’ anticipated salary is unquestionably elite, with top-flight bonus opportunities and a well-compensated staff already in place.
His competition bears names like Nick Saban, Bob Stoops, Mack Brown and Urban Meyer, Miles’ fellow top-five fiscal foes.
With three-straight 10-win seasons, two conference titles, two national championship appearances and a seemingly permanent spot in the top 10, Miles compares favorably.
Miles’ new wage would jump that of Meyer, who took a year off after resigning from Florida before leading Ohio State to an undefeated 2012 campaign that was limited by probation and a bowl ban.
Personal health problems, player discipline issues and a five-loss 2010 campaign marred Meyer’s final few seasons at Florida.
Brown is only 22-16 at Texas in the last three years and hasn’t led the Longhorns to a prestigious bowl game since 2009. Texas missed postseason play completely in 2010.
Stoops’ Oklahoma teams haven’t finished with fewer losses than LSU since 2008, and he is 1-5 in BCS Bowls since 2003.
Saban is the Goliath in the game — both monetarily and on the field — with three national titles at Alabama in four seasons and four years of one regular season loss or fewer since 2008.
Miles has fared better than most against Saban, posting a 3-4 record versus his LSU predecessor.
Meanwhile, Miles has more SEC wins since 2005 (47) than any coach and an overall winning percentage of 80.1 (85-21).
One way Miles could earn his new salary would be by filling his résumé’s only glaring hole in comparison to those top-five peers: lead his team to an undefeated season.
1. Nick Saban, Alabama – $5.62 million
2. Mack Brown, Texas – $5.35 million
3. Bob Stoops , Oklahoma – $4.55 million
4. Les Miles , LSU – $4.3 million
5. Urban Meyer, Ohio State – $4.3 million in 2012 (because of one-time relocation fee), $4 million currently for 2013 , but contract could be redone.
6. Kirk Ferentz , Iowa – $3.84 million
7. Steve Spurrier , South Carolina – $3.59 million
Gene Chizik , Auburn – (Fired ) $ 3.58 million
Chip Kelly , Oregon (Left for NFL) $3.5 million
8. Gary Patterson , TCU – $3.47 million
9. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State – $3.28 million
10. Bret Bielema , Arkansas – $3.2 million
