By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

PISCATAWAY — Show me the money.

That's the message Jim Harbaugh sent to Michigan in early December, and it paid off Monday when ESPN reported the two sides were close to a deal that would pay the San Francisco 49ers head coach near $48 million through six years.

With the Harbaugh signing a near-formality, the Big Ten East Division would house four of the nation's top-eight coaching salaries, based on a report from USA Today.

Michigan State's Mark Dantonio earned the second-highest coaching salary in 2014 with $5.6 million in total pay, followed by Ohio State's Urban Meyer (No. 6, $4.5 million) and Penn State's James Franklin (No. 8, $4.3 million).

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Iowa's Kirk Ferentz finished ninth with $4.075 million in total pay.

Rutgers head coach Kyle Flood, meanwhile, finished last in the league with $987,000. Flood signed a two-year extension in October that could pay him as much as $3.4 million in total new money by the time the contract runs out in 2019.

Flood's buyout also doubled to $1.4 million, but his salary remains the lowest in the Big Ten.

Report: Huggins to transfer from Rutgers

Savon Huggins will not take part in what could be a loaded backfield this spring, announcing he'll transfer for his fifth season, according to a ScarletReport.com report.

Rivals.com's top-rated New Jersey recruit in 2011, Huggins received a medical redshirt this season after rehabbing a shoulder injury.

In three seasons, Huggins totaled 842 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. He would be immediately eligible provided his destination school offers a graduate program Rutgers does not.