Football: Urban Meyer’s contract extension through 2022 season approved by Board of Trustees Talent and Compensation Committee

Colin Hass-Hill
Thu, 05 Apr 2018 13:40:45 +0000
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Ohio State coach Urban Meyer observes the field at Memorial Stadium prior to the Buckeyes’ season-opening 49-21 win over Indiana on Aug. 31 in Bloomington, Indiana. Credit: Colin Hass-Hill | Sports Editor

Ohio State took the next step in ensuring Urban Meyer will be heading the university’s football program for at least the next five seasons Thursday morning.

The Board of Trustees Talent and Compensation Committee approved the addition of two years to Meyer’s contract, extending it through the 2022 season. The full Board will vote to approve the contract on Friday.

Ohio State also announced Meyer will receive a $1.2 million raise along with the extension. He will make $7.6 million next year, which makes him the highest-paid coach in the Big Ten and the third-highest paid coach in the nation.

Meyer had three seasons remaining on his contract. Meyer’s contract, which the committee approved, will now end on Jan. 31, 2023.

“I want to thank President Michael V. Drake for his guidance and the Board of Trustees for its work in considering this extension,” Ohio State Athletics Director Gene Smith said. “I think everyone will agree that we have one of the finest coaches and mentors in Urban Meyer leading our football program.”

At a Feb. 7 press conference, Smith and Meyer announced the head coach would receive the extension. Smith said it typical for coaches to earn extensions if their contract has three or fewer years remaining in order to show recruits the coach will be with the program through their senior years.

Meyer had a base salary of $6.4 million last season. According to the USA Today head coach salary database, Meyer had the fourth-highest base salary of all head coaches in the NCAA last season. Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh has the third-highest base salary last season, earning $7 million.

In a Board of Trustees Talent and Compensation Committee meeting in February, Smith called Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher’s 10-year, $75 million contract “ridiculous.” He said he does not factor that deal and Alabama’s contract for head coach Nick Saban, which included a $11.1 million base salary last season, into contract discussions.

One of the most successful coaches in college football history, Meyer has a career 177-31 record, including a 73-8 record in his six seasons at the helm of Ohio State. The Buckeyes won a national championship to conclude the 2014 season, his third season as their head coach, and they have not lost more than two games in any season since he was hired prior to the 2012 season.

Last year, Ohio State went 12-2 and capped off its campaign with a Cotton Bowl victory against USC. The Buckeyes nearly made the College Football Playoff for the second time in Meyer’s tenure, but fell just short when the playoff committee ranked them fifth.

Meyer’s full extension can be viewed below.