Head coach Ryan Day holds up an “O” prior to beginning his speech at the Championship Celebration on Sunday at Ohio Stadium. Credit: Carly Damon | Asst. Photo Editor
Ohio State is rewarding its national championship-winning head coach with a new contract.
Ryan Day and the Buckeyes have agreed in principle on a revised seven-year contract that is slated to keep him in Columbus through at least the 2031 season, according to a Thursday release from Ohio State Athletics.
“Valued at $12.5 million in total annual compensation, with a base salary of $2 million per year, the contract comes just over two weeks after Ohio State celebrated winning the 2025 College Football Playoff national championship after a spectacular and never-before achieved run of four playoff wins in 31 days,” the release said.
The terms of the contract, which will extend Day’s current agreement by three years, “must be approved by the university Board of Trustees once the entire contract is completed,” according to the release.
Over his six seasons as the Buckeyes’ head coach, Day has accumulated a 70-10 overall record.
Just two months ago, many fans were calling for Day to be fired after Ohio State lost to rival Michigan for the fourth straight time Nov. 30. Some fans even called for him to be killed on social media.
But Day and the Buckeyes still made it into the first-ever expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. And in one of — if not the greatest — runs to a national championship ever, Day led Ohio State to victories over five different AP top-five opponents, marking the first time that has been done in college football history.
Day now stands as just one of three active FBS coaches — along with Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Georgia’s Kirby Smart — who have won a national title.
Day is also only the fifth Ohio State coach to win a national championship. Now in 2025, he’ll look to go back-to-back and become the first coach in program history since Woody Hayes to win multiple national titles.
