Alabama assistant coach Kirby Smart's raise takes him to $1.5 million

Steve Berkowitz | USA TODAY Sports

Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart received a pay increase to $1.5 million on Tuesday that will keep him on par with the nation's most highly paid public-school football assistant coaches.

Smart's $150,000 increase was part of a package of compensation deals approved by the university board of trustees' compensation committee, Alabama spokeswoman Deborah Lane said via e-mail.

At $1.5 million, Smart will be making the same amount this season as LSU offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, whose multiyear contract called for an increase to that amount from the $1.3 million he made last year, and Texas A&M defensive coordinator John Chavis, who left LSU after last season. Chavis' three-year deal with Texas A&M calls for him to be paid $1.55 million in 2016 and $1.6 million in 2017.

DATABASE: Assistant coaches' salaries

The Alabama board's compensation committee also approved salaries of $500,000 for new defensive backs coach Mel Tucker and $425,000 for new outside linebackers coach Tosh Lupoi.

Five of the other six members of Alabama's coaching staff also received raises.

Offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin, who made $680,000 last season, did not get a raise.

"Due to his former relationship with USC, Kiffin is in a unique situation that does not require an amendment to his original contract with UA," Lane said in an e-mail.

Kiffin was fired by Southern California in late-September 2013. According the federal tax return the school filed in May, he remained the school's head coach into October 2013, according to the return, and was paid $725,000 over the remainder of the year in connection with his termination.

Combined with nearly $2.2 million in base salary, plus other compensation, Kiffin totaled nearly $3.4 million in compensation in 2013.

USC's return does not say whether Kiffin is due additional money as a result of his firing. In May, USC assistant vice president for media and public relations Carl Marziali said only if more money is due to them it will be reported on future returns. Marziali said that USC's controller reported that Kiffin had repaid $1.8 million in housing loans that had been outstanding.

Kiffin's pay is scheduled to increase to $714,000 in 2016.

The increases will move Alabama's payroll for its nine on-field assistant coaches to $5,320,890 — up from $5,213,400 last season, when it was second to LSU in pay to assistant coaches. Those were the only schools whose assistant-coach payrolls topped $4.5 million.

GALLERY: COLLEGE FOOTBALL ASSISTANTS MAKING AT LEAST $700,000