The Buyout Money In College Football Is Insane After Just 5 Weeks

Several college football programs are already on the hook for a ton of buyout money, and only five weeks have been played.

While coaches usually don't start getting cut down until the second half of the season, it's been a massacre through the first five week. Five major coaches have already gone down.

Scott Frost, Paul Chryst, Karl Dorrell, Geoff Collins and Herm Edwards have all been fired. The good news for them is the five are owed a staggering amount of cash from their former employers.

So far, Colorado, Arizona State, Georgia Tech, Nebraska and Wisconsin are on the hook for a combined $67 million in buyout money if you count Chryst's full $19.5 million buyout, according to Ross Dellenger.

However, AD Chris McIntosh informed the press the two sides negotiated a lower buyout than what Chryst was supposed to get.

Even without Chryst's buyout being included at all, the number is in the range of $46.5 million, which is jarring for being five weeks into the season.

Wisconsin fired Paul Chryst after a 2-3 start. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)

College football has reached an unprecedented point with buyouts.

There's more money than ever being pumped into college football, and that's crystal clear from how buyouts are being handled.

Nebraska could have cut Scott Frost's buyout in half if the Cornhuskers had waited until October to fire him. Instead, the administration fired him and will pay him a smooth $15 million.

Nebraska owes Scott Frost $15 million. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)

Again, we're only five weeks of action in and the buyout money is already closing in on the 2021 record of $94.4 million. Given how many more coaches will likely be fired before it's all said and done, we'll definitely have a new buyout record by the end of the year. What will it be? Only time will tell, but you can bet on it being very high.