Ohio State trustees approve Ryan Day’s contract extension - with a hefty buyout clause
![The Ohio State Board of Trustees approved a three-year contract extension for football coach Ryan Day on Thursday. [Joshua A. Bickel/Dispatch]](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/2020/02/27/NBUX/ghows-OH-06c09675-9708-4797-8203-8ee48a290782-833e894c.jpeg?width=660&height=480&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
The three-year contract extension signed by Ohio State football coach Ryan Day includes a revised buyout clause that will make it more costly for him to leave the school for another coaching job.
Day would owe Ohio State $3.5 million, plus damages, if he terminates his employment on or before Jan. 31, 2021, under the terms of the extension, which were approved Thursday by the university’s Board of Trustees. The amount decreases by $500,000 each year thereafter.
Under his initial contract, Day would have owed the school $2 million, along with damages, had he left before Jan. 31, 2021.
Ohio State will continue to owe him the remaining salary on his contract if it fires Day without cause.
The extension keeps Day under contract through 2026 and raises his salary beginning next season.
He is to make $5.4 million in 2020, plus receive a $1 million contribution toward his retirement plan, according to terms that were announced earlier this week. His salary increases to $6.5 million in 2021 and $7.6 million in 2022.
A former NFL assistant, Day has been linked to head-coaching vacancies in the league, mostly notably last fall after the Washington Redskins fired coach Jay Gruden, though Day has denied interest.
Day said then that he hoped to remain in Columbus for the next five, 10 or 20 years.
In his first season as the Buckeyes’ coach, he led them to an undefeated regular season and return to the College Football Playoff.
jkaufman@dispatch.com
@joeyrkaufman