Sports are Big Business.
You may have heard that the highest-paid employee in each state is usually the football coach at the largest state school. Don't believe everything you read … Sometimes it is the basketball coach.
Deadspin via Flowing Data.
Remember, though, the bulk of this coaching money—especially at the big football schools—is paid out of the revenue that the teams generate (not your tax dollars).
It is not limited to big State schools. I went to Duke, which is a small liberal arts college. Their basketball coach, Mike Krzyzewski (better known as 'Coach K'), took home about $10MM. Good work if you can get it.