With success comes the spoils, and er … money. And in the case of Ohio State head coach, it means he’s moved up the rankings of highest annually compensated college football coaches. According to a listing and database put together by USA TODAY Sports, Day moved from the No. 22 highest-paid coach in 2019, up to No. 13. for 2022.
Just last season, Day made a reported salary of $4.5 million, but that was bumped up to $5.65 Million after he received a contract extension in February that will eventually escalate to $7.6 million in 2022.
Day took over the program from former head coach Urban Meyer heading into the 2019 season and promptly steered the team to an undefeated regular season, East Division title, Big Ten Championship, and an appearance in the College Football Playoff. Ohio State ultimately fell short to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl in a weird, and controversial game that had the better team losing. OSU still finished the season with a 13-1 record.
How’s that for an inaugural season in the ranks of big-time college football?
Five things we learned digging through the data. For one, national championships = $$$. https://t.co/56qFrfJXq7 pic.twitter.com/9UDrY0uQXP
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) October 14, 2020
But how does Day’s contract stack up with the rest of the Big Ten? Favorably for a newer head coach, but he’s still behind the eighth highest, Penn State’s James Fraklin at $6.7 million annually, and fourth highest, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh at $8.036 million (snicker, snicker).
It might seem as though Day is underpaid based on results on the field, but give it some time. He’s still only in his second year, and going from a $400,000 annual salary as an assistant in 2018 to $6.7 million by 2022 is a pretty good career arc I’d say.