MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — If there is one thing West Virginia needs to do following the greatest baseball season in program history, it’s this: make sure Steve Sabins is paid like one of the top coaches in college baseball. That’s not an overreaction. That’s simply recognizing reality.
Sabins currently makes approximately $550,000 per year. The highest-paid coach in college baseball, LSU’s Jay Johnson, earns roughly $3.35 million annually. Let that sink in for a moment. Sabins isn’t just underpaid. He is making less than one-sixth of what the nation’s highest-paid coach earns despite leading West Virginia to its first College World Series appearance and establishing the Mountaineers as one of the most consistent programs in the country. In fact, Sabins isn’t just underpaid. He may be the best coaching bargain in America.
Steve Sabins makes $550,000 a year. LSU's Jay Johnson makes $3.35 million a year.
Sabins isn't just underpaid; he is producing elite, national championship-caliber results at a fraction of what the sport's top coaches make. PAY HIM. #WVU
— The Voice of Morgantown (@voicemorgantown) June 22, 2026
What he accomplished during his first season as head coach was remarkable. Taking over for Randy Mazey was never going to be easy. Mazey transformed the program and left enormous shoes to fill. Instead of taking a step backward, West Virginia took another step forward. The Mountaineers won a school-record 45 games, advanced to Omaha for the first time in program history, reached a third consecutive Super Regional, and spent much of the season ranked among the nation’s best teams. More importantly, they proved they belonged on the same field as the sport’s traditional powers.
Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show this week, Sabins made a statement that should make every Mountaineer fan proud. “We’ve been the best kept secret in college baseball.” He’s right. Only West Virginia and North Carolina have reached three consecutive Super Regionals. Read that sentence again. Not LSU. Not Tennessee. Not Texas. Not Arkansas. West Virginia and North Carolina.
The Mountaineers are no longer some feel-good underdog story. They are one of the premier programs in college baseball. That’s why this conversation matters. Sabins isn’t just underpaid. He is producing elite, national championship-caliber results at a fraction of what the sport’s top coaches make.
College athletics has changed. Success attracts attention faster than ever before. Athletic directors around the country saw what happened in Morgantown this season. They saw a second-year head coach guide a program to Omaha while maintaining the winning culture that has made West Virginia one of the most consistent teams in the nation. Sooner or later, other schools are going to notice.
Maybe Sabins has no interest in leaving. Maybe he wants to spend the next 20 years in Morgantown. Maybe West Virginia is exactly where he wants to be. None of that matters. Programs that are serious about winning don’t wait until another school comes calling. They don’t wait until rumors start circulating. They don’t wait until they’re forced into a bidding war. They act first.
West Virginia doesn’t need to pay Sabins $3 million per year. Few programs can. But the Mountaineers absolutely need to find a way to compensate him more competitively than they currently are. Because Sabins isn’t getting paid like one of the best coaches in college baseball. The problem is that he’s coaching like one.
And if West Virginia wants Omaha to become the expectation instead of the exception, making sure Steve Sabins remains in Morgantown for the long haul should be one of the athletic department’s top priorities.
