AUBURN, Alabama — Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele's new three-year contract includes a big bump in salary.

Steele will be paid $2.5 million annually, a person familiar with the decision tells Auburn Undercover. Steele's new deal was announced Wednesday, but Auburn would not confirm the details of the contract. He was previously earning $1.9 million per year, making him the fourth-highest paid assistant coach in the country.

ESPN's Chris Low first reported the new salary.

It's believed Steele's $2.5 million salary will lead the country among assistant coaches in college football. LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda previously led the country with the same salary in 2019, but has since accepted the head coaching gig at Baylor. Steele surpasses Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables, who was paid $2.2 million in 2019. It's not yet clear if Venables will receive a raise after leading the nation's third-best scoring defense into the College Football Playoff's national championship game.

“Kevin has done a fantastic job with our defense the last four years making it one of the best in the country,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said in a news release Wednesday. “This will provide great stability and leadership for our defense in the future. I’m appreciative of Kevin’s hard work.”

Steele's deal expires after the 2022 season.

Auburn’s defense has ranked in the top 20 nationally in scoring defense in each of Steele's four seasons as the Tigers' coordinator. Auburn is one of only five FBS programs to hold opponents under 20 points per game in each of the last four seasons.

Auburn ranked 17th nationally in scoring defense (19.5 points per game), and eighth in both red-zone defense (71.8 percent) and third-down conversion defense (29.9 percent) in 2019.

The Tigers were led by defensive tackle Derrick Brown, the program’s first unanimous All-American since 1990, and defensive end Marlon Davidson. The two combined for 15 sacks. Brown is expected to be selected in the first round of the upcoming NFL Draft and Davidson is attempting to improve his stock at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama this week.

Steele enters his fifth season, the longest stint for a defensive coordinator at Auburn since Wayne Hall, who was fired in 1995.

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