College Football Coaches' Pay Jumps With Influx Of Television Cash (SLIDESHOW)

BCS College football coaches should be thankful for escalating media rights this year, according to Forbes magazine. The market demand is high, and coaches of successful programs at large schools saw their paychecks grow to match it.

USA Today compiled data around the trend and reports that average pay increase for coaches of major programs was up 12 percent over last season and is more than 70 percent higher than in 2006.

"Six years ago, 42 major college football coaches made at least $1 million. Today, 42 make at least $2 million," the newspaper reports.

Patrick Rishe, the director of Sportsimpacts and an economics professor at the George Herbert Walker School of Business at Webster University in St. Louis, Mo., explained why in Forbes:

... the bottom line is that a larger number of people are willing to pay a considerably larger price to watch college football than they are to listen to me discuss wage disparities and income inequality in my Principles of Microeconomics class.

Furthermore, the explosion of media rights deals across college sports infuses additional funds into athletic departments that can be used to financially reinvigorate football programs. I’ve previously focused specifically on how the Pac-12 conference is now able to pay their coaches in a more lucrative fashion because of a $250 million annual take from ESPN and Fox. Now armed with their own network in the footsteps of the Big Ten Network, revenue creation will only expand.

Take a look at the highest paid college football coaches below.

Of course, the contracts are only the beginning. Check out some of the stranger perks too. How much does Urban Meyer get paid to consider Kroger his supermarket of choice?