Todd Golden is now locked in as Florida basketball’s highest-paid coach, and the Gators are paying up for the man who has quickly turned Gainesville into a championship address.
Golden has signed a contract extension - his third in three years - that runs six years and is worth $49.5 million. The deal lifts his average annual salary to $8.25 million, a raise of $2.25 million per season. His pay will climb by $300,000 each year and reach $9 million in 2031-32.
The new agreement also lays out a steep set of buyouts. If Golden leaves for another college program next season, the buyout starts at $16 million. It falls to $13 million in 2027-28, then $5 million in 2028-29, before dropping to $3 million in 2029-30, $2 million in 2030-31 and $1 million in the final year.
If he departs Gainesville for the NBA next season, the buyout is $3 million. That figure drops to $2 million over the following two seasons and then to $1 million in 2029-30.
Golden’s contract also includes a $500,000 annual longevity incentive and a $100,000 annual expense account. On top of that, he gets 30 hours of free use of the university athletic association’s jet and other fringe benefits, including cars, tickets and travel, valued at $62,000.
The bonuses are stacked, too. Golden will earn $100,000 for winning the SEC regular-season championship, $50,000 for taking the SEC Tournament, $100,000 for reaching the NCAA Tournament and $50,000 for every NCAA Tournament win. He can also pick up another $100,000 if his team’s academic progress rate reaches 965 points out of 1,000.
Florida has made the deal close to fully guaranteed. If the school fires Golden without cause at any point, it would owe him 85% of the remaining value.
This season, Golden will make $7.5 million, which puts him second among SEC coaches behind only Arkansas' Jon Calipari and fourth nationally behind Kansas' Bill Self, UConn's Dan Hurley and Calipari. North Carolina's Michael Malone will make the same amount in his first year with the Tar Heels.
His new deal also tops first-year football coach Jon Sumrall’s six-year contract, which averages $7.45 million annually.
Golden’s résumé makes the price tag hard to argue with. He is 103-41 in four seasons with Florida, and two years ago he guided the Gators to a 36-4 record and the program’s third national title. Florida heads into the 2026-27 season as a favorite to add another championship banner.
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