How Much Do FBS Schools Spend on Coaches?

Above is the spending that 106 FBS tracked by the Knight Commission spent on coaching in 2014, the most recent year in its database (click to embiggen).

The total expenditure is just about $1.2 billion, which is about the size of a a major research university like the University of Colorado, where I am a faculty member.  In other words, the nation's top 106 athletic programs spend about 1 research university-worth of dollars on athletics coaches.

Here is a table of the top 50:

1	THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY	$26,460,182
2	THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN	$25,375,094
3	THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA	$23,159,068
4	PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY	$22,746,542
5	UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA	$21,918,720
6	UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN	$21,683,893
7	LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY AND AGRICULTURAL & MECHANICAL COLLEGE	$21,139,585
8	UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE	$20,884,261
9	MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY	$20,884,258
10	AUBURN UNIVERSITY	$20,371,279
11	UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY	$20,257,669
12	UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA	$20,206,975
13	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-LOS ANGELES	$18,764,600
14	TEXAS A & M UNIVERSITY	$18,409,833
15	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA	$18,277,553
16	UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA	$18,089,569
17	UNIVERSITY OF IOWA	$17,404,934
18	UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS	$17,137,702
19	FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY	$17,020,714
20	THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE	$16,933,891
21	UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA	$16,847,388
22	UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON	$16,812,513
23	ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY	$16,713,127
24	UNIVERSITY OF OREGON	$16,283,951
25	UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA	$16,211,134
26	UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT	$16,197,062
27	UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON	$15,931,618
28	UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN	$15,589,712
29	INDIANA UNIVERSITY-BLOOMINGTON	$15,569,609
30	CLEMSON UNIVERSITY	$15,474,254
31	OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY	$15,291,172
32	UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA	$15,267,187
33	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY	$14,669,054
34	WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY	$14,588,974
35	NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY AT RALEIGH	$14,395,344
36	UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND-COLLEGE PARK	$14,162,812
37	UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI	$13,729,892
38	UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI	$13,707,453
39	UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL	$13,642,676
40	UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS	$13,359,816
41	KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY	$12,947,255
42	VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY	$12,765,778
43	UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO BOULDER	$12,605,932
44	PURDUE UNIVERSITY	$12,532,279
45	UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA-TWIN CITIES	$12,137,176
46	GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	$11,855,296
47	MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY	$11,825,452
48	OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY	$11,776,500
49	TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY	$11,661,855
50	IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY	$11,519,206