Ohio State’s release agreement with Chris Holtmann stipulated that it would have to pay its former coach nearly $15 million over the next four years, but his contract with DePaul will reduce that obligation to under $8.5 million.
Under the terms of Ohio State’s release agreement with Holtmann, which was signed by both parties in March and released to Eleven Warriors on Wednesday in response to a public records request, Ohio State would have been obligated to pay its former basketball coach $14,990,706.25 over the next four years. The release agreement stipulated that Ohio State would pay Holtmann $4,490,706.47 in monthly installments from Feb. 15, 2024 through June 30, 2025; $2,187,499.96 from July 1, 2025 to Feb. 14, 2026; and $8,312,499.82 from Feb. 15, 2026 to June 30, 2028.
Holtmann’s monthly payments will be reduced, however, by the amount of compensation he receives from his new job as DePaul’s head coach. While DePaul has not announced Holtmann’s salary and is not subject to public records requests as a private university, an Ohio State spokesperson told Eleven Warriors that his compensation at DePaul will be $125,000 per month, equaling $1.5 million per year.
As such, Ohio State’s buyout obligation to Holtmann has been reduced to $8,428,206.25. That number could decrease further if Holtmann receives a raise at any point between now and June 2028, while it could increase if Holtmann – who received a six-year contract from DePaul – becomes unemployed at any time over the next four years.
Ohio State is required to pay Holtmann buyout money for the next four years because it gave Holtmann a three-year contract extension in 2022 that required Ohio State to pay Holtmann the entirety of his remaining salary, less any compensation he received from new employment, if it chose to fire him before the end of that contract. Ohio State fired Holtmann in February, less than two seasons into that contract extension, following an 11-game stretch in which the Buckeyes lost nine games.
Ohio State’s five-year contract with its new head coach, Jake Diebler, will require OSU to pay Diebler only 65% of his remaining salary if it chooses to part ways with Diebler before the end of his contract. Diebler is set to make $2.5 million per year, a decrease from Holtmann’s salary of $3.5 million per year.
Ohio State’s full release agreement with Holtmann can be found below.
