Ohio State Football: Bad news for Big Ten, Ryan Day not leaving soon

As a result of Ohio State football coach Ryan Day’s tremendous early success, he has earned a contract extension to keep him on the Buckeyes’ sideline through the 2026 season.

This extension should give Ryan Day stability for the next 6 seasons as head coach of the Ohio State football team.

This season Day will make $5.3 million. In 2021, he will make $6.5 million and $7.6 million in 2022. Day will make $20 million over the next 3 seasons with the Buckeyes.

In his first season as the head coach of the Ohio State football team Ryan Day led the team to a 13-1 record, a Big Ten Championship and a College Football Playoff birth. He also became the first Buckeye head coach since 1979 to be named Big Ten Coach of the Year.

Day is 16-1 in his career as the head coach of the Buckeyes. This includes a 6-1 record vs. Top 25 teams, 3-1 record vs. Top 10 teams, 10-0 record in Big Ten games and a 1-0 record against that team up north.

Props to AD Gene Smith for making this happen. As coach Day continues to succeed for the Buckeyes, an NFL team will come calling sooner or later to trying to persuade him to be their offensive coordinator or head coach.

However, this contract extension should allow coach Day to feel the security needed to commit to the Buckeyes through 2026.

With Matt Rhule leaving Baylor for the head coaching job of the Carolina Panthers, it seems like the natural progression for elite young college coaches are to go to an NFL team. For guys like coach Day and Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley, there wouldn’t be any Power 5 college jobs they would leave their current situations for.

But for many coaches, the dream is to coach at the highest level. With Ryan Day’s stints with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers, it is certain NFL opportunities will arise.

Fortunately, due to this contract extension the Buckeyes hope to lock down the head coach and keep him away from the NFL for now.

There will be two things that will continue to thrive as a result of this contract extension, recruiting and Coach Day’s coaching staff.

According to 247Sports, the Buckeyes have the top ranked 2021 recruiting class in the country followed by Clemson and Florida. From a recruiting standpoint, the top players around the country will not hesitate to commit to the Buckeyes because of Coach Day’s stability,

With Ohio State’s academic standards and NFL production, coach Day’s staff will continue to bring in outstanding recruits. With the addition of Kerry Coombs and the promotion of QB Coach Corey Dennis, this coaching staff is made up of defensive and offensive minds with years of experience and a combination of young and older energy who are great recruiters.

Due to the success the Buckeyes have had on the field, coaches will leave to pursue bigger and better opportunities, like Jeff Hafley who left to become the head coach at Boston College. In those cases, coach Day will continue to reload his staff with top coaches.

The future is bright for this Ohio State football program. Under coach Day’s leadership, the Buckeyes will have an outstanding coaching staff, lead the nation in recruiting and compete for Big Ten Championships and National Championships for years to come.