Ohio State co-offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson influencing running backs in first season in Columbus. Credit: Jacob Myers | Assistant Sports Editor
Ohio State released the contracts of its three new football assistant coaches, collectively worth $1.15 million in the 2017 fiscal year and $1.55 million in 2018.
Co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ryan Day and co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Kevin Wilson have agreed to two years with the program. Linebackers coach Bill Davis has only a one-year deal.
According to the terms of the agreement, Davis is slated to make $500,000 in base salary this season.
Day signed a two-year, $1.2 million contract. He will make $400,000 in base salary in the upcoming season and the remaining $800,000 his second season.
Wilson’s two-year deal is worth $1.4 million. His base salary will be $650,000 in his first year; it will climb to $750,000 the following season. Wilson’s first-year salary is the same compensation former OSU co-offensive coordinator Ed Warinner made in 2016.
Like most contracts across college football, the assistant coaches can earn significant additional pay from success-based incentives.
If OSU wins the Big Ten East, each coach will earn an 8.5 percent raise on their base salary. They’ll receive 4.25 percent raises if the Buckeyes win the Big Ten championship game. If the team wins at least nine games and doesn’t make a College Football Playoff bowl game, coaches will receive a 4.25 percent raise.
Each coach will receive a 17 percent raise from their base salary if the team plays in a postseason CFP game. If the Buckeyes make it to a semifinal CFP and lose, the coaches will receive a 21.25 percent raise on their base salary. Should they win the semifinal game and advance to the finals, each coach will see a 25.5 percent raise in their base salary. Any of the aforementioned incentives will be issued out to the coaches within 60 days following the conclusion of the semifinal game.
Though OSU has yet to pay an assistant coach a base salary of at least $1 million, if the highest total of incentives are reached, Wilson would surpass the threshold in his first and second years, while Day would be paid in excess of $1 million in his second year.
If OSU wins the Big Ten East, the Big Ten championship game and makes it to the national championship game in 2017, Wilson will make $359,125 in addition to his $650,000 salary. If the Buckeyes were to do the same in 2018, Wilson’s total plus incentives would be $1,164,375, and Day’s total would be $1,242,000.
According to multiple media outlets that received the contracts, three Michigan assistant coaches will make over $1 million in base salary in 2017.
Wison, Day and Davis are budgeted $600 per month to spend on a car. The trio is also compensated with six football tickets and two men’s basketball tickets.
If Davis, Wilson or Day leave OSU to take an assistant coach position at a Power 5 conference, Notre Dame or BYU, they would have to pay OSU $100,000, if they leave before April 30, 2018, and $50,000 if they leave the school between May 1, 2018 and Dec. 31, 2018.
