Matt Patricia Becomes College Football’s Highest-Paid Coordinator With $3.75 Million Salary, Arthur Smith to Make $1.5 Million in 2026
Matt Patricia is now the highest-paid assistant coach in college football.
After leading the nation’s top defense in his first year with the Buckeyes in 2025, Ohio State’s defensive coordinator will make $3.75 million in 2026 as part of a new three-year contract. His salary will increase to $3.85 million in 2027 and 2028, per the terms of his contract, which was obtained by Eleven Warriors on Tuesday through a public records request.
Patricia’s new contract comes after he received offers from NFL teams that were interested in hiring him as their defensive coordinator. Ultimately, Patricia decided to stay at Ohio State, and Ohio State made sure he was compensated accordingly.
“Did he have options? Yes. But I think he found a lot of joy in making an impact on these guys’ lives at a different point in their lives than what he was used to in the NFL. And so we were able to work something out to keep him here,” Ryan Day said Tuesday. “We knew that was important. The guys really enjoy working with him and learning from him.”
New Ohio State offensive coordinator Arthur Smith will make $1.5 million in 2026 and $2 million in 2027 on a two-year contract. Wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton will make $900,000 in 2026 and $1 million in 2027 on a two-year contract. New special teams coordinator Robby Discher will make $400,000 in 2026 and $450,000 in 2027 on a two-year contract.
Patricia is one of six returning assistant coaches to receive new contracts for 2026.
Defensive line coach Larry Johnson will make $1.6 million, a $200,000 increase from 2025, on a one-year contract.
Co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Keenan Bailey, linebackers coach James Laurinaitis, running backs coach Carlos Locklyn and quarterbacks coach Billy Fessler each received new two-year contracts. Bailey will make $1 million (a $350,000 raise from 2025), Laurinaitis will make $900,000 (a $400,000 increase), Fessler will make $750,000 (a $275,000 increase) and Locklyn will make $700,000 (a $50,000 raise) in 2026. Bailey’s contract will increase to $1.1 million in 2027, while Laurinaitis, Fessler and Locklyn will receive $50,000 salary increases in 2027.
Co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach Tim Walton will make $1.8 million, the same salary he made last year, in the second year of a three-year contract he signed in 2025. Defensive passing game coordinator and safeties coach Matt Guerrieri and offensive line coach/run game coordinator Tyler Bowen will make $1 million, a $100,000 increase from last year, in the second year of three-year contracts they signed in 2025.
In total, Ohio State will pay its assistant coaches $15.3 million in 2026, its largest assistant coach salary pool ever, after expanding its full-time coaching staff from 10 coaches to 12. That’s an increase of more than $3.5 million from 2025, when Ohio State paid its assistant coaches $11.775 million in salary, not including bonuses.
That’s in addition to the $12.5 million Ohio State will pay Day, who’s in the second year of a seven-year contract that he signed with Ohio State last year.
The only full-time assistant from last season who did not return to Ohio State for 2026 was former offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline, who left OSU to become the head coach at South Florida.
The full list of salaries for Ohio State’s assistant coaches for the 2026 season:
| COACH | TITLE | 2026 SALARY | 2025 SALARY | CHANGE | CONTRACT END |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MATT PATRICIA | DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR | $3,750,000 | $2,500,000 | +$1,250,000 | 2029 |
| TIM WALTON | ASSISTANT HEAD COACH/CO-DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR/SECONDARY COACH | $1,800,000 | $1,800,000 | $0 | 2028 |
| LARRY JOHNSON | ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH/DEFENSIVE LINE COACH | $1,600,000 | $1,400,000 | +$200,000 | 2027 |
| ARTHUR SMITH | OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR | $1,500,000 | N/A* | N/A | 2028 |
| KEENAN BAILEY | CO-OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR/TIGHT ENDS COACH | $1,000,000 | $650,000 | +$350,000 | 2028 |
| TYLER BOWEN | OFFENSIVE LINE COACH/RUN GAME COORDINATOR | $1,000,000 | $900,000 | +$100,000 | 2028 |
| MATT GUERRIERI | PASSING GAME COORDINATOR/SAFETIES COACH | $1,000,000 | $900,000 | +$100,000 | 2028 |
| CORTEZ HANKTON | WIDE RECEIVERS COACH | $900,000 | $1,000,000* | -$100,000 | 2028 |
| JAMES LAURINAITIS | LINEBACKERS COACH | $900,000 | $500,000 | +$400,000 | 2028 |
| BILLY FESSLER | PASSING GAME COORDINATOR/QUARTERBACKS COACH | $750,000 | $475,000 | +$275,000 | 2028 |
| CARLOS LOCKLYN | RUNNING BACKS COACH | $700,000 | $650,000 | +$50,000 | 2028 |
| ROBBY DISCHER | SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR | $400,000 | $400,000* | $0 | 2028 |
| *Hankton coached at LSU and Discher coached at Illinois in 2025. Arthur Smith was the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive coordinator in 2025, but his NFL contract was not subject to public record. | |||||
First Appeared on
Source link
