BATON ROUGE – LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda has signed a four-year contract worth $10 million, making him the first assistant coach in major college football to reach $2 million in annual salary, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Wednesday night.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because LSU had not released financial terms. The person said Aranda was being pursued by Texas A&M.
The deal was first reported by The Advocate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Athletic department spokesman Michael Bonnette confirmed an agreement was in place between the school and Aranda and LSU coach Ed Orgeron tweeted that he was "very happy to report Dave Aranda has agreed to be with our program for years to come."
Aranda, 41, was already the highest-paid assistant coach in the country at $1.8 million per year, according to the USA Today assistant coaches' salary data base . Last year, only 46 head coaches in FBS made more than $2.5 million, according to USA Today's head coaches' salary data base.
Aranda came to LSU from Wisconsin after the 2015 season. Under Aranda, LSU's defense ranked 12th in the nation this season and fifth in 2016. He led top-10 ranked defenses each of his three seasons at Wisconsin.
