New financial details emerge from Ryan Day's new contract, including $80.5 million buyout

With him agreeing to a new contract earlier this week, the buyout on that deal for Ohio State’s Ryan Day has been reported.

Per Chris Vannini at The Athletic, the buyout on Day’s new deal with the Buckeyes is at $80.5 million if they were to fire him with the offset of a new job playing into that figure. Then, if he were to leave himself, that total is at $6 million until January 31st, 2026 when it will drop to $4 million and so on from there.

Ohio State extended Day by three years on Thursday with his contract now set for seven years and at a total of $87.5 million, or $12.5 million annually.

This is the first deal for Day under the school’s new athletic director in Ross Bjork.

This could have been a much more notable figure on his last deal had Ohio State not finished the season the way they did. Day very well could have not been the head coach there anymore based on the reaction following the end of the regular season. Instead, though, the Buckeyes regrouped and went on to finish at 14-2 by winning the College Football Playoff.

With that, Day is now 67-10 (.870) through his six seasons in Columbus. That span includes a pair of Big Ten Championships and three appearances in the CFP.

This was a well-deserved deal for Day after leading Ohio State to a national title. He’ll now be around for much longer based on what that buyout is for this contract.

More on Day, Ohio State agreeing to new contract, annual salary

Ohio State has agreed to a new contract with Ryan Day per Lettermen Row’s Spencer Holbrook.

It is a seven-year deal that will keep Day at OSU through 2031. It will add three years onto Day’s pre-existing contract with the school at a total of $12.5 million in total annual compensation.

The figure of $12.5 million per year will make Day the second-highest-paid coach in college football, only trailing Georgia’s Kirby Smart who makes $13.2 million annually. Clemson’s Dabo Swinney is the third-highest-paid coach in the sport. With that, this comes as no surprise as those are now the three active coaches who have won a national championship.

Day signed his previous contract with the school back in 2022. It was a seven-year deal with a base annual salary of $2 million.