CLEMSON, S.C. _ Clemson has been committed to keeping head football coach Dabo Swinney among the highest paid head coaches in the country.
The Tigers took another step toward doing that on Friday.
Clemson's Board of Trustees approved a new contract for Swinney Friday morning _ a 10-year deal that will pay him an average annual salary of $9.3 million.
The 49-year-old Swinney is now the second-highest paid coach in the country in terms of annual salary. Alabama's Nick Saban is first at $9.44 million. Saban's contract is a seven-year deal.
"I am grateful and humbled by the incredible commitment Clemson has made to me, my family and our football program," Swinney said in a statement. "For more than a decade, we have given our all to provide this world-class university and our incredible fans the championship football program they deserve _ to live up to 'Best is the Standard.' With this contract, we make a collective statement that we intend to continue pursuing championships and developing total student-athletes for years to come."
Swinney's contract also includes a buyout enhancement if he leaves to become the head coach at Alabama. His buyout is $4 million through Dec. 31, 2020; $3 million in 2021-2022; $2 million in 2023-2025; and $1 million in 2026-2027.
If Swinney leaves for Alabama, the buyout jumps to $6 million through Dec. 31, 2020; $4.5 million in 2021-2022; $3 million in 2023-2025; and $1.5 million in 2026-2027.
"That's because of all of you guys," Tigers Director of Athletics Dan Radakovich said to media members following the announcement. "Everybody thinks that Dabo's gonna move on to Alabama, and while we were looking at these things it really wasn't that difficult as it related to that with his representatives. We were going to have a buyout for all of the other schools and for that one we just kind of put in an additional little kicker."
Swinney led Clemson to its second national title in three years in January. The Tigers have won five ACC titles under Swinney, with all of them coming since 2011. He has an overall record of 116-30 since taking over as the interim head coach in 2008.
Clemson returns several offensive stars off of last year's national title team, including quarterback Trevor Lawrence, receivers Tee Higgins and Justyn Ross and running back Travis Etienne.
"We're incredibly happy that we have now created a great commitment from Clemson to coach Swinney and from coach Swinney to Clemson," Radakovich said. "I think he's a generational coach. There's no coach better for Clemson than Dabo Swinney. Very excited to have that put to bed and being able to move forward."
