Two months ago, Ryan Day was on the hot seat for suffering a fourth straight loss to Michigan. Now, Day is the second-highest-paid coach in college football.
After Ohio State’s national championship run drastically changed the narrative around the Buckeyes’ head coach, Ohio State rewarded Day by giving him a seven-year contract worth $12.5 million per year – $87.5 million total – that makes it clear Ohio State expects him to lead the program for years to come.
Ohio State would owe Day the majority of his remaining salary if it fired him at any point in the next seven years, so the new contract makes a firm commitment to Day as the program’s leader and ensures there won’t be any more hot-seat talk about Ohio State’s head coach any time soon.
The new contract also solidifies Day’s place among college football’s elite coaches as he is now making more money than every other college football coach except two-time national champion Kirby Smart.
Making $12.5 million per year will only increase the expectations upon Day to win another national championship at Ohio State, but he’s already embraced that as his next goal as Ohio State’s coach. And while delivering on-field results remains Day’s top priority as head coach, his new contract is also reflective of the program he runs off the field and Ohio State’s belief that he is the right person to be the face of its football program.
Eleven Warriors’ Dan Hope and Chase Brown share their prevailing thoughts on Day’s new contract and what it says about Ohio State’s belief in him in a new episode of Press Coverage, which you can watch at the top of the page.
