What price for victory? For Kansas, it's $2.5M per win

Steve Berkowitz and Jodi Upton, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

The cost of a football victory keeps climbing for Kansas.

This season, the university paid Charlie Weis $2.5 million for one win — the highest cost per victory among schools whose teams won at least one game, according to USA TODAY Sports' annual analysis of football coaches' compensation. Kansas paid Turner Gill $1.05 million for each of two wins last season, after paying Gill $700,000 for each of three wins in 2010.

Orange Bowl-bound Northern Illinois, meanwhile, gave coach Dave Doeren a raise this season and ended up lowering its cost per victory. Doeren delivered 12 wins, including one in the Mid-American Conference title game, at $35,000 apiece before leaving for North Carolina State. His 10 wins last season, also including the MAC title game, cost $37,100 each. Those figures made NIU No. 3 in cost efficiency in both seasons.

Kent State's Darell Hazell was the most cost-effective coach this season, with 11 wins at a little more than $27,000 apiece. Louisiana-Monroe's Todd Berry was next, with eight at $31,250 apiece.

Among the conferences whose champions automatically qualify for the Bowl Championship Series, the most cost-effective coach was Rutgers' Kyle Flood, with nine wins at $83,333 each. No other coach in any of those conferences had a cost per victory of less than $130,000, based on the amounts paid by the schools exclusive of bowl games and performance bonuses.

Kansas is the only NCAA Bowl Subdivision school among the top five in cost inefficiency in each of the past three seasons. This season, KU paid over $1 million more per win more than the school that had the lowest rate of return last season.

In 2011, Mississippi paid nearly $1.4 million for each of the two wins from Houston Nutt, who was fired. In 2010, Texas paid just over $1 million per win from Mack Brown, who delivered five that season.

Southern Mississippi set the standard this season, paying $790,000 to Ellis Johnson, who produced an 0-12 record, was fired, and is set to receive more than $2.1 million in buyout money on a monthly basis through late December 2015.

Auburn also exceeded more than $1 million a win, paying now-fired Gene Chizik $3.5 million for three victories. Among coaches who have not been terminated, Iowa's Kirk Ferentz was second to Weis in cost per win at $958,750 for each of the Hawkeyes' four. Under the terms of a 10-year contract that began in 2010, Ferentz is scheduled to receive $150,000 in pay increases for next season.

In addition to Southern Mississippi, 11 schools paid more than $600,000 per victory this season, including eight that paid at least $725,000. Last season, six schools paid $600,000 or more per victory.