Ohio State's 2026 staff will be the highest paid in program history

Ohio State is set to enter 2026 with the largest staff salary pool the Buckeye football program has ever had.

According to a report from Eleven Warriors, Ohio State will pay 12 of their most prominent assistant coaches a total of $15.3 million. The increased salary comes after Brian Hartline left to become the head coach at South Florida and the Buckeyes saw their on-field coaching staff go from 10 to 12 as a result with Arthur Smith set to serve as offensive coordinator without being tied to a position group, and Cortez Hankton joined the staff to fill the receivers role after coaching the same position at LSU previously and Robby Discher was hired away from Big Ten foe Illinois to serve as special teams coordinator.

For starters, as we dig into the how the $15.3 million is being allocated - as we shared yesterday - there is a new highest paid assistant coach in college football, and he's based in Columbus.

After an off season where he received interest from multiple NFL teams looking to land him as their defensive coordinator, Matt Patricia signed a new contract to keep him with the Buckeyes.

Following a stellar first season calling the defense for Day in Columbus, Patricia will be entering his second season set to make $3.75 million this fall as part of a new three-year deal. He will receive a raise to $3.85 million in 2027 and 2028, per Eleven Warriors.

"Does he have options? Yes. Did he have options? Yes. But I think he found a lot of joy making an impact in these guys' lives, at a different point in their lives, than he was used to doing in the NFL," Day shared at his presser yesterday following spring practice as noted in the clip.

"So we were able to work something out to keep him here. We knew that was important as guys really enjoy working with him, and learning from him. The other part of it was his impact on the staff and the younger coaches that are in that room so we can continue to build that room, and the strength of the coaching staff on that side of the ball."

Beyond Partricia, the staff is set to have a total of 7 of their 12 listed on-field assistant coaches making $1 million or more, with two additional coaches (receivers coach Cortex Hankton and linebackers coach James Laurinaitis) not far behind at $900k.

New offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, who arrives after over 15 years in the NFL including stops as the head coach of the Falcons (2021-23) and offensive coordinator stops with the Titans and Steelers since 2019, will make $1.5 million this fall and will get a raise to $2 million in 2027 as part of his two-year deal.

Also, new special teams coordinator Robby Discher arrives from Illinois and will make $400k this fall with a raise to $450k next year as part of a two-year contract.

As for returning coaches, six of them received new contracts for the 2026 season, the report adds.

Defensive line coach Larry Johnson is set to receive a raise of $200k from what he made last fall, earning $1.6 million in 2026 as part of the veteran defensive line coach's one-year deal. Johnson, who has been at Ohio State since 2014 after spending 1996-2013 at Penn State, is one of college football's premier veteran coaches at 75 years old.

Co-offensive coordinator / tight ends coach Keenan Bailey, linebackers coach James Laurinaitis, and running backs coach Carlos Locklyn all received new two-year deals, with Bailey set for a raise of $350k from his 2025 salary to bring him to an even $1 million this fall. Fessler earned a pay bump of $275k to bring his salary to $750k for 2026, while Locklyn got a $50k pay bump to $700k this season.

Co-defensive coordinator Tim Walton's salary remains unchanged from 2025 at $1.8 million as he enters the second year of a three-year deal, defensive pass game coordinator Matt Guerrieri and offensive line coach / run game coordinator Tyler Bowen will also be part of Ohio State's $1 million club as each of them also enters year two of their three-year deals.

As he enters the second season of a 7-year deal he signed back last year, Day is set to earn $12.5 million this fall as one of the highest paid head coaches in college football.

That means, without even touching the support staff or roster and NIL numbers, Ohio State is heading into this fall investing $27.8 million into their coaching staff alone.

Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.