One week after receiving a two-year contract extension and a salary increase of nearly $2 million, Ryan Day is feeling thankful.
The Buckeye head coach entering his fourth season with the program is now under contract through the 2028 season, and his $9.5 million total annual compensation ties him with Michigan State's Mel Tucker for the distinction of highest-paid coach in the Big Ten. That figure puts Day behind only Nick Saban ($9.9 million) and Lincoln Riley ($10 million) in terms of the highest-paid college football coaches in the country.
While Day hasn't yet had a press conference to discuss his new deal, he spoke with 97.1 The Fan about the matter Wednesday morning, expressing gratitude for those that have helped him get to this point.
"First off, there's just so many people to thank when something like this happens. This is obviously a wonderful place. And like I said before, I want to be here as long as I possibly can and our family loves Columbus," Day said. "So we are just very blessed and thankful for so many that have made something like this possible."
Ryan Day @ryandaytime (OSU football coach) 5-25-22 https://t.co/fGx6Y0NivK
— Morning Juice (@MorningJuice971) May 25, 2022
Day also discussed a number of other topics with the Morning Juice crew, from the challenges of NIL to preparing for a highly-anticipated season opener against Notre Dame in September. A quick rundown of some of the highlights from Day's 12-minute radio appearance:
- Day on dealing with NIL issues: “When the rules aren't easily enforced, or there's misunderstanding of the rules and what's appropriate and what isn't ... it creates a lot of hard feelings, especially when you're dealing with a very competitive environment.”
- On figuring out the right balance with which to handle NIL challenges: “That's been the biggest challenge is just finding what's right for Ohio State. The risk of doing nothing is that you fall behind, and as we know, that's not an option here at Ohio State. If you're too far out in front of it, you can put yourself at risk in another way.”
- On expectations for C.J. Stroud in 2022: “Just because he did it last year doesn't mean it's just gonna happen this year. If anything else, has got a bull's eye on his chest. So he's gonna have to bring it right from the jump, and there's a lot that comes with that.”
- On what kind of team he thinks he has this season: “I think going into a season, it's hard to predict much. The good news is we have a lot of our team back so I think that that's good, you can project a little bit, but we won't know what kind of team we have until we get to September and October. But the hard thing around here is we can't wait that long.”
- On opening with Notre Dame: “At Ohio State, we have to win every game. You can't all the sudden put so much into one and then lay an egg the next week. But that being said, you're talking about a top-10 matchup, night game at home ... we're gonna be all over this.”
