Ohio State's Matt Patricia is college football's highest-paid assistant: Buckeyes reward DC after Year 1

It's never been more lucrative than to hold a coordinator position at a major college football program. With more than a dozen programs now exceeding $1 billion in estimated valuation, generating hundreds of millions in annual revenue, elite coaching staff members are hard to come by -- and they're paid handsomely in retention or being poached by other schools.

Ohio State contract numbers were revealed this week for Ryan Day's 2026 staff, including a new agreement with defensive coordinator Matt Patricia that makes him the highest-paid assistant coach nationally at $3.75 million next season. Patricia's now one of four coordinators at the Power Four level who has broken the $3 million threshold, a number previously reserved as a starting number for most head coaches.

Ohio State led college football in scoring and total defense last season, Patricia's first with the Buckeyes. Patricia is making more than twice as much as Ohio State offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, whom Day tapped this offseason to call plays following Brian Hartline's move to South Florida.

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John Talty

LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker, Michigan offensive coordinator Jason Beck and Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines are the others at the eye-popping $3 million mark. Baker, who became the nation's first $3 million assistant in December, has a new deal with the Tigers that features a $300,000 bonus if LSU finishes inside the top 20 in scoring defense during any of his first three seasons in Baton Rouge.

Notable hires this cycle whose salaries are not yet available for private institutional reasons or other include Bobby Petrino (North Carolina OC), Chip Kelly (Northwestern OC), D'Anton Lynn (Penn State DC) and Gary Patterson (USC DC).

College football's highest-paid coordinators in 2026

Haines helped revitalize the Hoosiers on defense as last season's Broyles Award winner, given to college football's top assistant. Lethal in the College Football Playoff en route to the program's first national title, Haines reloaded on defense in the transfer portal as Indiana -- and mega booster Mark Cuban -- aim at again finishing at the top of the Big Ten thanks to enhanced NIL efforts.

New Auburn coach Alex Golesh, who is set to make $6.7 million this season, had to pay up to retain D.J. Durkin as the Tigers' defensive coordinator. Durkin, who also interviewed for the head coaching vacancy following Hugh Freeze's firing, is tied with fellow defensive coordinators Will Muschamp (Texas) and Jay Hill (Michigan) at $2.7 million.

Muschamp previously spent three seasons on Mack Brown's defensive staff with the Longhorns before leading head coaching jobs at Florida and South Carolina.

Much like the transfer portal, the tugging and pulling that goes on behind the scenes between schools and agents for these coordinators is an obstacle coaches deal with annually. Elite performances are rewarded, and sometimes, bridges are burned when play-callers leave for another opportunity.

The situation that unfolded at Ole Miss was unlike any we've previously seen in the playoff era after the Rebels retained four of their offensive staffers who had joined Lane Kiffin at LSU for the first round of the postseason. It got sticky thereafter, and Kiffin pulled all but one of those assistants back to the Tigers prior to the Rebels' semifinal CFP matchup.

At $2.5 million, LSU's Charlie Weis Jr. is college football's second-highest-paid offensive coordinator in 2026 after turning down a similar package to remain in Oxford with Ole Miss.