2026 will be another year marked with questions and projections for Ryan Day because his staff is markedly different this year. He has a mix of old and new coaches in his camp, making this year a bigger experiment for him. To make their time in Columbus more worthwhile, Ohio State is going big on the financial front.

According to Eleven Warriors, OSU football will be paying $15.3 million in total to its assistant coaches, the program’s largest such sum ever. The figure notably includes the contract extension of defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, hiring Arthur Smith as offensive coordinator, and salary hikes of the other assistant coaches. It is a $3.5 million jump from the $11.775 million spent in 2025.

Matt Patricia will make $3.75 million for the 2026 season, followed by a raise to $3.85 million in 2027 and 2028 in his new contract, which is worth $11.45 million in total. His base salary for the 2026 season dethrones Jim Knowles as the highest-paid assistant coach, who is earning $3.1 million at Tennessee. The heights Patricia reached last year were a defensive masterclass for everyone in the league.

Ohio State finished No. 1 nationally in both scoring and total defense, allowing a stingy 9.3 points per game. Most of the Buckeyes heading to the draft are defensive stars, like Sonny Styles, Caleb Downs, and Arvell Reese. All of this brilliance was why the NFL wanted him back. Athletic Director Ross Bjork said that there were “touch-and-go” moments in his fight to retain Patricia.

New offensive coordinator Arthur Smith will reportedly make $1.5 million in 2026, as part of a two-year contract. It increases to $2 million in 2027. Head coach Ryan Day might be hoping for him to follow the Matt Patricia trajectory in Columbus, as Smith is a 17-year NFL veteran. This one is also a bigger gamble than OSU hiring Patricia, since Smith replaces Brian Hartline, a staple figure in the offensive staff.

Next, OSU offered new two-year contracts to Keenan Bailey (co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach), James Laurinaitis (linebackers coach), Carlos Locklyn (running backs coach), and Billy Fessler (quarterbacks coach). The 2026 salary chart sees Bailey leading at $1 million after a $350K raise and Laurinaitis jumping to $900,000 with a $400,000 increase. Fessler is hitting $750,000 with a $275,000 bump, and Locklyn is reaching $700,000 with a $50,000 raise. In 2027, Bailey rises again to $1.1 million, while the others add $50,000 more.

Bailey has spent a decade within the program, working his way up from an entry-level intern. Ryan Day has frequently praised him as the “hardest worker in the building,” a reputation built on his exhaustive preparation and deep-seated relationships with players. He is one of the few coaches to have worked with every offensive position group on the staff. In 2016, he was as an offensive intern under Urban Meyer, initially working with running backs and wide receivers. He later served as a quality control coach for quarterbacks and as a special assistant to Ryan Day while focusing on the offensive line in 2022.

Bailey’s first full-time on-field role came as tight ends coach in 2023. Following Ohio State’s national championship victory, he was promoted to co-offensive coordinator in February 2025. In his first year leading the tight ends, TE Cade Stover achieve first-team All-Big Ten honors and was a finalist for the John Mackey Award. As a recruiter, he was recognized on 247Sports’ “30 Under 30” list in 2021 and has been pivotal in securing top-tier talent like transfer Max Klare and several four-star prospects.

Tim Walton (co-defensive coordinator and secondary) will be earning $1.8 million. His pay remains unchanged. Matt Guerrieri (defensive pass game coordinator and safeties coach) and Tyler Bowden (offensive line coach and run game coordinator) will be earning $1 million each, which is $100,000 more than what they earned last year.

OSU does not compromise when it comes to quality, and that rings true even when it comes to coaches. However, a bad memory from the past could be why Ryan Day is breaking the bank for his assistants to remain happy at Columbus.

A heartbreak behind Ryan Day’s big pay strategy for Ohio State staff

It has been a trend for Day to increase the salary of the coaches. Back in 2023, Brian Hartline landed the biggest salary jump on the Ohio State Buckeyes football staff. After taking over as offensive coordinator from Kevin Wilson, Hartline’s base pay climbed to $1.6 million, a 68.4% surge from his 2022 salary. However, in one case, Day failed to come up with an offer that would have saved Ohio State from parting with former offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.

Kelly was set to earn roughly 6 million in his 3-year contract with the Buckeyes. But after OSU won the National Championship, the Las Vegas Raiders came up with an offer for Day’s coach as their new offensive coordinator. The base pay alone was 6 million, which prompted Kelly to bid Columbus goodbye. It made Kelly the highest-paid coordinator in the NFL.

Moreover, Kelly’s contract didn’t turn out to be value-for-money for Day. The former coach’s offense struggled at times in the 2024 season, especially in the Michigan game. Kelly was also fired by the Raiders in 2025. Ryan Day is also paying Arthur Smith less than what he paid Kelly.

Ohio State, however, has fared well since Chip Kelly’s departure. Though it was yet again without an offensive coordinator after the 2025 season, Ryan Day was not going to make the mistake he made with Kelly. He got a better coach in Arthur Smith, and will not back out from fighting to keep the better coaches on his staff.