It appears as if Ohio State head football coach Ryan Day is here to stay.
During the team’s national championship celebration held at Ohio Stadium Sunday afternoon, Ohio State athletic director hinted at a possible contract extension for the national title-winning coach, saying that the 45-year-old Day will be the Buckeyes’ coach for “years to come.”
“Coach Day runs the program the right way,” Bjork said while introducing Day on the stage. “Our academic record, attention to detail, culture, accountability, leadership — we recruit great young men into our program. Better than anyone, Coach Day knows how to lead the Buckeye program.
“Before I bring Coach Day to the podium, President (Ted) Carter and I are working with Coach Day to make sure we have long term stability, that he is the Buckeye coach for years to come. We are proud of his leadership, and we want to keep this momentum going strong.”
Although Bjork didn’t expand much further on the specifics of what that potential contract would look like, telling the media after the celebration that they simply want to “enjoy the moment,” Carter offered more information and told Eleven Warriors that the two sides have discussed an extension.
“We’re working on it,” Carter said. “We don’t have any announcements yet, but we have intent. I know Ryan wants to stay here, so we’re working the details.”
Day is currently employed under a contract he signed in 2022 that runs through the 2028 season and is worth $9.96 million per year after he received a 5.25 percent salary bump during the 2023 season.
Under that contract, Day stands as the fifth-highest paid head coach in college football, with Georgia’s Kirby Smart leading the way at a total pay of $13.3 million, according to the USA Today, followed by Clemson’s Dabo Swinney ($11.1 million), Texas’ Steve Sarkisian ($10.6 million) and USC’s Lincoln Riley ($10.04 million).
Talks of a potential contract extension for Day come just six days after the sixth-year head coach led Ohio State to its first national championship in 10 seasons as a No. 8 seed in the College Football Playoff, steamrolling through college football powerhouses Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame to get the Buckeyes back to the mountaintop.
Day holds an impressive 67-10 record (87.0 winning percentage) as head coach for Ohio State, with four College Football Playoff appearances (2019-20, 2022, 2024), two Big Ten titles (2019-20) and the aforementioned one national title added to his name. Four of those 10 losses have come to archrival Michigan, however, a significant stain on an otherwise mostly spotless coaching résumé.
