Coach Urban Meyer stands in front of the team before the Buckeyes take the field against Rutgers on Oct. 1. The Buckeyes won 58-0. Credit: Mason Swires | Assistant Photo Editor

Coach Urban Meyer stands in front of the team before the Buckeyes take the field against Rutgers on Oct. 1. The Buckeyes won 58-0. Credit: Mason Swires | Assistant Photo Editor

The enterprise that is college football continues to grow with social media branding, television deals and other sources of revenue. All factors emphasize the importance of signing one of the best play callers in the country, but that comes at a price.

On Wednesday, USA Today released a compiled database of the 2016 salaries of all NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision coaches. At the top were arguably the three best coaches in the NCAA: Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, Alabama coach Nick Saban and Ohio State coach Urban Meyer.

Meyer is ranked third out of 128 coaches with a 2016 total salary of $6,094,800.

Meyer trails only Harbaugh and Saban, respectively, for the largest income of Division I coaches. Harbaugh tops the charts at $9,004,000, more than $2 million higher than Saban’s $6,939,395. USA Today lists Harbaugh’s maximum bonus at $1,325,000, while Meyer’s maximum bonus is $775,000.

Not all of Meyer’s payment is coming from OSU. The school pays Meyer a maximum of $6,003,000, with all bonuses factored in, and Meyer received $91,800 for “other pay.” OSU said the $91,800 was meant to cover travel costs associated with outside engagements, and any leftover money was directed to the Shelley and Urban Meyer Family Foundation.

The most recent outside-income form available to USA Today was due to be filed by Sept. 10, 2015, and lists Meyer as having generated a total of $801,450 in “cash and/or goods and services for charities.” That number includes $696,450 he raised for his family’s charity.

Meyer had $250,000 of his possible bonuses paid in the 2015-16 season.