Chip Kelly, Andy Reid among Highest-Paid Coaches in American Sports

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Chip Kelly had seemingly taken himself out of the running for the Eagles’ head coaching job on January 5, so what made him change his mind 10 days later?

We may never know the whole truth, but the money sure couldn’t have hurt. The organization would go on to make Kelly the ninth highest-paid coach in American sports with a five-year, $32.5 million contract that comes out to $6.5 annually – not a bad haul for a guy who has never played or coached a down in the National Football League.

The hefty sum is par for the course in pro football these days. Of the names on Forbes top-10 list (via CBS Philly), eight are head coaches in the NFL. The lone exceptions were NBA bosses Doc Rivers (6th) and Gregg Popovich (10th).

Then again, you won’t see Jacksonville’s Gus Bradley or any of the rest of the league’s new chiefs on the list.

Apparently it takes a lot of cash to convince a coach to jump from college to the pros. Pete Carroll comes in fourth with an annual salary of $7 million after leaving his cushy gig at Southern Cal to take a position with the Seattle Seahawks in 2010 – and he’s probably due for a pricey extension by the way.

And while Andy Reid was fired from what is now Chip’s post, he is doing just fine for himself in Kansas City, to the tune of $7.5 million per year according to Forbes’ sources. That’s good for the third highest-paid coach in the United States behind only Sean Payton and Bill Belichick.

That may sound like a lot for Reid in Philly, although he was slated to make $6 million in the final year of his deal with the Eagles. NFL salaries are constantly on the rise, and coaches with proven track records (with or without a Super Bowl ring) generally make the big bucks – Jeff Fisher, Mike Shanahan, and Tom Coughlin helping to round out the list.

>> The Highest-Paid Coaches In U.S. Sports [Forbes]

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