Ohio State head coach Ryan Day to get 3-year contract extension, raise

Ohio State football head coach Ryan Day will be getting a 3-year contract extension and raise. It is expected to be approved this week.

Few in the national media gave Ryan Day much chance of picking up where Urban Meyer left off without a little bit of a slide. But he proved them all wrong.

All Day did was steer the Buckeyes to an undefeated regular season, Big Ten Championship, and an appearance in College Football Playoffs. He finished just a play away from making the national championship game.

And now he is being rewarded.

According to a release by Ohio State, Day is up for a three-year contract extension, pending approval from the university’s Board of Trustees. The extension is expected to be approved this week.

Based on the details provided, Day will make $5.375 million from Feb. 1, 2020 through Jan. 31, 2021, plus the University will make an employer contribution of $1 million to his retirement continuation plan on Dec. 31, 2020. He will receive his current salary through June 30, 2020. Beginning July 1, 2020, Day will be paid at an annualized rate of $6.0 million per year through January 31, 2021.

 Day’s compensation for the 2021 season will be $6.5 million and his total compensation for the 2022 season will be $7.6 million.

Not only did the new head man have great success on the field, but the program is in great shape academically. Ohio State football most recently had a 987 multi-year Academic Progress Rate that was not only No. 2 in the Big Ten, but that also earned the program a national public recognition award, one of just 14 given in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

“Ryan Day’s management of this football program, from mentoring and leading our student-athletes in their academic pursuits and off-field endeavors to coaching them on the playing field, has been exceptional,” Athletic Director Gene Smith said through the statement. “I am appreciative of his work. And I want to thank President Michael V. Drake for his leadership and the Board of Trustees for its work with this extension.”

The new contract will make Day the third-highest-paid coach in the Big Ten, behind Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh and Penn State’s James Franklin. His initial contract paid him $4.5 million in 2019.