Nate Oats’ New Extension Places Him in Top-Five Highest Paid Coaches

April 7, 2026 Michael Brauner AL BASKETBALL, Alabama, Featured News

NASHVILLE, TN - JANUARY 06: Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats during a game between the Vanderbilt Commodores and Alabama Crimson Tide, January 6, 2024 at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Matthew Maxey/Icon Sportswire)

The Alabama Crimson Tide has locked down Nate Oats to a huge contract extension which is going to make him one of the highest-paid coaches in college basketball.

As first announced by Yea Alabama and director of athletics Greg Byrne, Oats signed a deal over the weekend that had been brewing for the last few weeks and will make him one of the top five compensated men’s basketball coaches.

🚨BREAKING: Nate Oats has signed a new contract that will make him one of the top five compensated men’s basketball coaches in the country. Appropriate members of The Board of Trustees have been notified of the proposed terms of the new agreement and it will soon be formally… pic.twitter.com/C1EMJGvOQy

— Yea Alabama (@yea_ala) April 5, 2026

While Byrne did not provide additional salary details, a top-five deal would bring Oats above $6 million annually after he earned $5.5 million this past season.

Since arriving to Tuscaloosa, Oats has ushered in a golden era of Alabama basketball with six straight NCAA Tournament appearances and four straight trips to the Sweet Sixteen, something only two other programs in the country can boast.

Oats was one of the names rumored to be of interest for the North Carolina job, but just as he did two years ago when he was up for the Kentucky job, he instead signs an extension to keep him at Alabama and continue raising his salary.

“I’m not a guy that’s always trying to jump around,” Oats said during the tournament a couple weeks ago when his name came up for UNC. “I love Alabama. My girls love Alabama…[Alabama] is doing everything we can to make sure we’ve got a competitive program. As long as we’re able to compete to win championships here…I’d love to be the coach to bring us our first national championship. To me, there’s absolutely no reason to leave here…I’m not a guy that’s looking to get out of here any time soon.”

Clearly, Oats meant what he said and plans on leading the Crimson Tide for the long haul, and now he is being compensated like the elite coach he has proven to be over the last half decade.