Smart Money: Bama Pays Up

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP)– Alabama has doubled the salary of defensive coordinator Kirby Smart after he helped the Crimson Tide win a national championship. Smart will make $750,000 a year through Feb. 28, 2013, under a deal unanimously approved Tuesday by the compensation committee of the university’s board of trustees. He made $360,000 in salary last year plus $72,000 in bonuses. Smart won the Frank Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach. He turned down a lucrative offer from Georgia coach Mark Richt to run the defense at his alma mater. Smart’s contract won’t have a buyout if he leaves for a head coaching job, but does require him to pay $72,000 if he takes an assistant coaching possession elsewhere. Smart directed the nation’s No. 2 defense last season. That bonus will push Smart to the third highest paid defensive coordinator in the country. The SEC now has at least four defensive coordinators making $700,000 or more per year. The other three are Georgia’s Todd Grantham, LSU’s John Chavis and South Carolina’s Ellis Johnson.