Ryan Day is receiving a one-time lump-sum payment of $487,000 for his time as Ohio State's acting head coach, according to an addendum to his contract signed by Day on Monday, obtained by Eleven Warriors through a public records request on Wednesday.
That payment, which Day will receive in addition to his $1 million salary as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, will be paid to him on Sept. 30 to reflect his work as acting head coach from Aug. 1 through Sept. 16.
According to additional documents released by the university on Wednesday, Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer forfeited $570,507.68 (roughly six weeks of pay) for his three-game suspension. Meyer's salary for the months of September and October was reduced from $412,033.33 to $126,779.49.
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith's salary for the month of September was reduced $60,711.16, from $119,582.59 to $58,871.43, for his suspension, which ran from Aug. 31 through Sept. 16.
Eleven Warriors also obtained a letter from Ohio State to former wide receivers coach Zach Smith's attorney, Brad Koffel, which stated that Smith never formally signed his contract for the 2018-19 season before he was fired on July 23.
"Therefore, it is the university's position that Mr. Smith is not owed any severance or buy-out," Ohio State senior associate general counsel for athletics Julie Vannatta wrote in the letter to Koffel.
The letter also stated that if Smith's employment agreement had been fully executed, Smith's termination from the university would have been under the for cause provision in his contract, which states that he would not have been "entitled to receive any further compensation or benefits" from Ohio State.
