Billy Napier, a former Alabama football assistant, made waves with his first team photo with the Gators when he took over as head coach at Florida in 2022.In order to alert some fans to the size of UF’s support personnel across college football, Napier decided to include them all in the picture.
Even among public SEC institutions, Napier’s Florida football program did not spend the most on support staff in Fiscal Year 2024. Georgia earned first place, while the Gators were not even close, coming in eighth.
According to financial disclosures that SEC schools submitted to the NCAA and that AL.com was able to receive through a series of open records requests, the Bulldogs spent slightly more than $8.1 million on support staff in FY 2024. Since Vanderbilt is a private university exempt from open records regulations, it was left out.
It is largely up to the schools to define support workers, as the NCAA financial reports are a little ambiguous on the subject. Coaches will not be included in support staff pools, though, as coach expenditure falls under a separate category.
With slightly less than $8.1 million spent, Tennessee came in second to Kirby Smart and company. With $7.9 million, Texas A&M was the only football program to spend more than Alabama, which reported $7.6 million for the fiscal year that covered portions of both Nick Saban and Kalen DeBoer’s tenures in Tuscaloosa. The fiscal year went from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024.
Alabama spent $6.8 million on football support staff in Fiscal Year 2023, which was more than the FY 2024 amount.
With $7.3 million, Ole Miss was one slot behind UA and sixth among the league’s public schools. In FY 2024, South Carolina finished sixth in the conference and spent somewhat less than the Rebels.
In FY 2024, Auburn ranked 10th in the conference. little behind Florida’s $6.4 million, the Tigers spent little about $6.3 million.
Spending on AU’s football support staff did go increasing annually. In FY 2023, Auburn spent $5.4 million in this category.
During the fiscal year, just four football programs in the SEC spent less than $5 million on support staff. Support staff was one of the few areas of revenue or spending where Mississippi State wasn’t bottom among public schools, as the Bulldogs lost $4.3 million to finish 12th in the conference.
Arkansas spent $4 million and finished just behind the Sooners, while Oklahoma spent little under $4.1 million, good for 13th place. At somewhat less than $3 million, Kentucky spent far less on support workers than any other team in the conference.
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