Where Tennessee's Josh Heupel ranks among the highest paid coaches in college football

Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel's wallet isn't hurting. 

The former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback, who is entering his fourth year as the head coach at Tennessee, is among college football's highest paid coaches. 

According to 247Sports, Heupel, at $9 million per year, is tied for No. 8 on the list of the highest paid coaches in college football. 

Mark Stoops at Kentucky and Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss also make $9 million per year. 

Here are the coaches ahead of Heupel: 

1. Dabo Swinney -- Clemson 
2. Kirby Smart -- Georgia 
3. Ryan Day -- Ohio State 
4. Kalen DeBoer -- Alabama 
4. Lincoln Riley -- USC
4. Mike Norvell Florida State 

Coaching salaries have reached new heights in recent years. But there's no way around it for college football programs. When a program lands a coach that's doing a good job, they essentially have to give that coach a raise every offseason to keep programs in need of a new head coach away. 

In Heupel's case, he's brought success to Tennessee that the program hasn't seen since Phillip Fulmer was roaming the sidelines in Knoxville. It would be hard to argue that he's not worthy of his $9 million paycheck.