How much Ohio State is paying Chip Kelly, per insiders
Ohio State turned college football's coaching carousel on its head when it hired Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator. What are the Buckeyes paying him?
Forced into a quick turnaround at offensive coordinator after Bill O'Brien sudden departure, Ohio State made another big move in college football's coaching carousel by bringing on Chip Kelly to call the Buckeyes' offense in 2024. And with that hire comes a hefty expense.
How much? So much that Ohio State is set to break the record for football assistant coaching salaries since USA Today starting tracking them back in 2009.
Kelly is set to earn $2 million in his first season at Ohio State, according to multiple reports. That's in comparison to defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who just edged Kelly out at $2.2 million this year, a raise of $243,000.
Co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers guru Brian Hartline will make $1.6 million, the same as last season, and both defensive line coach Larry Johnson and secondary coach Tim Walton are both set to receive $1.4 million, raises of $233,010 and $400,000, respectively.
Related: Ohio State Football Schedule 2024
New running backs coach Carlos Locklyn will make $650,000.
Kelly is set to make $200,000 more than O'Brien would have if he stayed with the Buckeyes. O'Brien originally signed a deal worth $1.8 million this year, $1.9 million next year, and $2 million in 2026.
The total $11.43 million salary pool for Ohio State's football assistants marks the highest amount calculated since 2009, although it's not the only school paying eight figures: Georgia is set to pay its football assistants $10.1 million this season.
With that kind of investment comes plenty of expectation: Ohio State and Georgia rank first and second, respectively, as the favorite and second-favorite in the 2024 national title odds.
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