There are seven teams with $40 million plus rosters and five others just behind the tally from college football as the 2026 season begins. The SEC leads payrolls (LSU, Texas, Texas A&M, Georgia, Ole Miss and Tennessee), with four from the Big Ten (Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan and USC), one from the ACC (Miami) and independent Notre Dame.
As for the schools that didn’t make the list? UNC is No. 52 in roster value, 7th in the ACC at about $22 million and 45th among power 68 football schools, which is nowhere near the $40 million mark. After Miami spends just over $40 million, Clemson pays $28 million and Florida State at $26 million, followed by SMU, Virginia Tech and Louisville, according to data collected by CBS Sports and 247 Sports.
Deposed general manager Michael Lombardi would be the spokesman for all this before he was placed on paid leave and now is under investigation by the NCAA and university, while being defended by his attorney and litigated by various UNC lawyers. Carolina apparently did not have enough money to go after 4-star prospects or could not sign any of them.
According to more than 50 assorted sources from both publications, the rich continue getting richer in the wide-open field of pay-for-play college football — with the exception of recent national contender Alabama. Over his last three seasons with the Crimson Tide, former coach Nick Saban spent less than $20 million than any other current SEC program. Typical of the ACC’s plight besides Miami and pseudo member Notre Dame, NC State lost top running back Hollywood Smothers, who transferred to much richer Texas.
Defending national champion Indiana continued to recruit carefully, going for quality that included former TCU quarterback Josh Hoover. He will be replaced against the Tar Heels next Saturday in Dublin by Harvard transfer Jaden Craig, who finished as the Crimson’s career leader with 6,000-plus passing yards and 52 touchdown passes. TCU is reportedly paying Craig $2 million to join the Horned Frogs. Carolina will also have a new starter at quarterback in Billy Edwards, who transferred from Maryland where he was a full-time starter, and Wisconsin after sitting out most of the 2025 season with an injury. Edwards is reportedly making about $1.3 million this year, which according to CBS Sports is the highest salary on the UNC football roster.
You know Miami head coach Mario Cristobal was handed the South Beach ranch when the U snatched him from Oregon, which has a blank check from Nike owner Phil Knight. And the Hurricanes are taking full advantage of the confusion created by escalating revenue share and NIL payments supposedly regulated by the NCAA, which found schools unwelcome to reveal what the athletes were being paid and by whom. So the so-called Wild West has grown even wilder with athletic departments supplementing revenue share payments by whatever sources they can find. And those that have cheated for years find that easy-peasy.
Sources have discovered that roster values have increased almost 50 percent between 2024 and 2026. Quarterback Darian Mensah was supposed to earn $4 million this season when Duke hosted Carolina on Oct. 17. He transferred to Miami where he will be earning twice that much when the Canes visit Chapel Hill two weeks later.
Making matters worse, some prospects can now test the NFL draft and free agency and then return for substantial NIL money and revenue share payments by colleges looking to pad their rosters. We all thought athletes should get some money when the millions grew to billions from TV contracts and rights fees. But coaches having to take pay cuts were snuffed out by restraint of trade court rulings, leaving the wealthiest schools and donors to come up with even more money to stay on top.
Featured image via Associated Press/Robert Simmons
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs on 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro during football and basketball seasons.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
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