Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has agreed to terms on a 3-year contract extension that will keep him in Columbus through the 2031 season. The school announced the move on Thursday.

In the release, the Buckeyes revealed they were taking Day’s total annual compensation to $12.5 million — a significant bump from the $10 million he made in 2024. That raise will also make Day the second-highest-paid coach in college football, just behind Georgia coach Kirby Smart.

According to the USA Today coach salary database, Smart made $13.3 million in 2024. Smart signed a 10-year, $130 million deal in October 2024 that also includes certain incentive-based bonuses that could take his annual pay close to $15 million.

With 4 wins in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff and a national championship, Day earned an additional $1 million from Ohio State in on-field bonuses. It’s not immediately clear if the bonus structure also changed under the terms of his new extension.

Below are the top 10 highest-paid coaches from the 2024 season. The full list can be found here.

  1. Kirby Smart, Georgia — $13.28 million
  2. Dabo Swinney, Clemson — $11.13 million
  3. Steve Sarkisian, Texas — $10.60 million
  4. Lincoln Riley, USC — $10.04 million
  5. Ryan Day, Ohio State — $10.02 million
  6. Mike Norvell, Florida State — $10.00 million
  7. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama — $10.00 million
  8. Brian Kelly, LSU — $9.98 million
  9. Mark Stoops, Kentucky — $9.01 million
  10. Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss — $9.00 million
    Eli Drinkwitz, Mizzou — $9.00 million
    Josh Heupel, Tennessee — $9.00 million

Ohio State captured its first national championship since 2014 with a 34-23 victory over Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff National Championship on Jan. 20. The win capped a 4-game Playoff run for the Buckeyes that featured beatdowns of ninth-seeded Tennessee and top-seeded Oregon, as well as a 14-point semifinal win over fifth-seeded Texas.

Since Day took over the program in 2019, Ohio State is 67-10 with 2 Big Ten championships, 4 CFP appearances, 2 national championship appearances, and 1 outright title.