Ohio State gives Ryan Day 2-year extension; $9.5M annually ties him with Michigan States Tucker

Ohio State has given head coach Ryan Day a two-year contract extension through the 2028 season worth $9.5 million annually with a base salary of $2.0 million per year. The extension is pending board approval this week.

Day’s total compensation was previously at $7.6 million. This new $9.5 million annual salary ties him with Michigan State coach Mel Tucker for highest in the Big Ten. It's also equal to LSU coach Brian Kelly's salary over his 10-year contract.

Day, 43, has led Ohio State to a 34-4 record, including a 23-1 mark in the Big Ten Conference, since joining the program in 2018. Day has also led the Buckeyes to two appearances in the College Football Playoff and won two Big Ten championships (2019-20).

Ohio State also announced a three-year contract extension for men's basketball head coach Chris Holtmann through the 2027-28 season. His total annual compensation will increase to $3.5 million, pending board approval this week.

Holtmann joined the Buckeyes in 2017 and has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in every year it was held.

(Photo: Mike Mulholland / Getty Images)

What it means that Day's salary matches Tucker's

Nicole Auerbach, senior college football writer: It means that Day was due for a raise. This year's college football coaching carousel threw the pay scale out of whack, and it left two coaches in Tucker and James Franklin — who have not taken teams to the Playoff — well ahead of Day, who obviously has.

The contracts of the highest-paid coaches in this sport are all structured a bit differently, but it matters who ranks among the top of each individual league and where they fall nationally. It shows which institutions (and donor bases) are investing what they need to in order to keep their head coaches. We just saw coaches leave Oklahoma and Notre Dame for other college head-coaching gigs. Schools know they have to take care of their own in order to retain that, be it salaries, assistant coaching pools, facilities — whatever it takes. Ohio State has set the standard in the Big Ten for some time, and Day's salary should reflect that.

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