Getty Dallas Renegades head coach Bob Stoops is one of the biggest names in the XFL.
The XFL has not revealed each coach’s specific contract details, but we have a good idea of Bob Stoops’ salary based on the data that has been released. XFL commissioner Oliver Luck noted prior to the season that coaches would have about a $500,000 salary.
“Each roster will have roughly 25 people on the football side and 25 people on the business side,” Luck noted, per XFLsp Newsroom. “Salary for coaches will be around $500,000 and salary for the top players around $250,000. Players will also be drug tested for performance-enhancing substances.”
It is not clear whether each XFL coach has an identical salary, but Stoops is arguably the highest-profile person that is associated with the league. If any coach is making more than $500,000, it makes sense that it would be Stoops given his notoriety from his many years as the Oklahoma head coach. The length of the XFL contracts has also not been revealed, so it is unclear if Stoops committed to coach Dallas past this season.
Stoops was making $325,000 as the Special Assistant to the Athletic Director prior to taking the position as the Dallas Renegades coach and general manager, per OU Daily.
As the XFL looks to build a fan base, the league is spending money in two key areas: quarterbacks and coaches. The average salary in the XFL is $55,000, per Pro Football Talk. Stoops and the other coaches are said to be making much more than this number. The same is true for the starting quarterbacks such as Cardale Jones.
Stoops’ estimated salary is about the same as Steve Spurrier was reported to be making with the now-defunct AAF. The XFL appears to have a much more solid business model which includes television contracts with ESPN and Fox.
Bob Stoops’ Had a $5.55 Million Salary in His Final Season as Oklahoma Head Coach
Given Oklahoma is a state university, Stoops’ salary as Sooners’ head coach was made public, unlike the XFL figures. Stoops had a $5.5 million salary in his final season as Oklahoma coach back in 2016, per Tulsa World.
Stoops doubled his salary at Oklahoma over a ten-year period as he was making $2.6 million in 2007. Stoops has taken a sizable pay decrease with the XFL given his estimated salary of $500,000. However, the Sooners’ coaching gig was a year-round job, while being an XFL head coach comes with much fewer responsibilities.
Stoops Called His Break From Coaching “Awful”
Some are curious why a coach like Stoops with an impressive resume would join a startup league. The XFL offered Stoops the best of both worlds as it is not a year-round job, but he still gets to coach football. Stoops admitted that his break from coaching was “awful” in a recent interview with USA Today.
“Oh, it was awful,” Stoops told USA Today. “The first year was incredibly awful. The second year was awful. And the third year was just really bad…You’re in a gang your whole life (and) go from that to being alone most the time…All of that together fit me at this point in my life. My love of football won out.”
