Ohio State assistants will make over $7.2M

Assistant coaching salaries at top college programs have exploded in recent years, and, well, Ohio State is a top program.

So it’s no surprise that the base salaries for the Buckeyes’ coaching staff in 2019 will reflect that trend. Ohio State released contract terms for its 10 assistant coaches Monday, and they will make a combined $7.245 million this year working under new coach Ryan Day. That is a slight increase over the $7.06 million paid to assistant coaches in 2018.

Join the conversation at Facebook.com/groups/BuckeyeXtraFans and connect with us on Twitter @BuckeyeXtra

But it represents a dramatic rise from salaries paid at the start of the decade. In 2010 under Jim Tressel, Ohio State’s nine assistants made just under $2 million combined. The highest-paid coach that year was offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Jim Bollman at $300,000.

Now, every assistant on the staff makes more than that. Defensive coordinator Greg Mattison, whom Day pried from Michigan, will be the highest-paid assistant in base salary at $1.1 million.

Quarterbacks coach/passing-game coordinator Mike Yurcich will make $950,000 in salary, but he also will receive a one-time $400,000 bonus.

Co-defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, who was hired away from the San Francisco 49ers, and returning offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson also will make $950,000 in salary.

Defensive line coach Larry Johnson will make $900,000. He and Wilson received raises of $150,000.

Offensive line coach Greg Studrawa will make $600,000, a $100,000 bump from last year. Running backs coach Tony Alford will earn $600,000. He made $525,000 in 2018.

Linebackers coach Al Washington, another assistant hired away from Michigan, will earn $500,000 in salary and receive a one-time bonus of $40,000.

Assistant secondary coach and special-teams coordinator Matt Barnes, who was an assistant at Maryland last year, will make $350,000. Wide receivers coach Brian Hartline, who made $105,000 as an interim coach last year after replacing the fired Zach Smith in July, will make $345,000 this year.

Last year, the Buckeyes paid two assistants at least $1 million. Defensive coordinator Greg Schiano received $1.5 million and Day, as offensive coordinator, made $1 million. Both of them got significant raises after they were courted by NFL teams. Schiano is now with the New England Patriots.

Day will make $4.5 million this year as Urban Meyer’s successor.

All of the new coaches signed two-year contracts that will expire at the end of January 2021. The contracts for Wilson and Hartline also end then. The contracts for Alford, Studrawa and Johnson expire at the end of January 2020.

As in past years, assistant coaches will receive bonuses based on championships and bowl appearances, as well as a $600 per month automobile stipend.

brabinowitz@dispatch.com

@brdispatch

Listen to the BuckeyeXtra Football podcast: