On3 reported Tuesday that Patricia landed a three-year extension worth $3.75 million in year one, rising to $3.85 million in years two and three. That makes him the highest-paid assistant coach in college football.
Ohio State’s defense ranked No. 1 nationally in scoring defense at 9.3 points per game and total defense at 219.1 yards per game.
When On3 broke Patricia’s extension, user Preston Guy fired back with a single data point: Nick Saban was the highest-paid head coach in America in 2004 at $2.5 million.
“Sheesh. Nick Saban was the highest paid head coach in the country in 2004 at $2.5 M. now assistants make more than that,” Guy tweeted.
Patricia joins Blake Baker, Jason Beck, and Bryant Haines as the only Power Four coordinators above the $3 million mark. That threshold matters because it used to mean something very different.
LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker even has a $300,000 bonus written in if the Tigers crack the top 20 in scoring defense. The market isn’t stabilizing it’s accelerating.
He meant it. The Buckeyes held opponents to 20-plus points just once across 14 games, and that game included a 72-yard pick-six that padded Miami’s total in the Cotton Bowl.
Patricia has three projected top-10 NFL Draft picks coming off his defense. Ohio State wants consecutive national titles. The extension made sense the moment the season ended.
What nobody predicted is that it would take Saban’s ghost to show just how far the sport’s economics have drifted.