Ryan Day and Greg Schiano broke a barrier for Ohio State in 2016.

Before then, the Buckeyes had never hired an assistant coach that had a salary more than $1 million dollars. For athletic director Gene Smith, it wasn’t that there was a resistance to it, but that the Buckeyes never really needed to spend that money.

On the bus ride back from Ann Arbor in November after the Buckeyes’ first loss to Michigan since 2011, Smith felt the urge to make a similar splash.

“That’s not one we ever want to experience again and it’s not something that we really think should ever happen again,” Smith said. “Our expectation every year is to go and win that game. We have done that historically, so how do we respond?”

As athletic director, Smith's job was to take a step back and soak in the big picture of the 2021 season as a whole. The Buckeyes had a young team, one of the youngest teams in the history of the program, but one that had grown consistently as the season moved on. It was a team that responded in a big way at the Rose Bowl, returning expectation and a level of momentum ahead of 2022.

But from the middle of last season up until that bus ride back from Ann Arbor, Smith said the consistent conversations have been surrounding the defense: what needed to be done to never let performances like the Michigan game happen again.

With that, Smith turned the page and looked forward, giving Day a simple and clear message:

“I told him, ‘Go find him,’” Smith said. “‘Go find that guy.’”

As Day was out recruiting in the days when Ohio State was usually preparing for the Big Ten Championship, he was calling Smith every night, talking about candidates, narrowing down to one name: Jim Knowles.

“At the end of the day, I was looking for a head coach of the defense,” Day said.

And the Ohio State head coach saw that in the former Oklahoma State defensive coordinator, who turned the Cowboys defense into one of the best units in the nation this past year.

But even with his track record, Day wanted to be sure, talking to Knowles over FaceTime and Zoom at length, admittedly more than he needed to.

The Ohio State head coach knew what was at stake.

“We’re at a level of college football where the competition is extremely high and the expectations are extremely high, and I know that more than anybody,” Day said. “There’s an expectation that comes with that. I say it all the time: I have a great job, but it’s a hard job and the hardest part is going through and trying to make those difficult decisions. But at the end of the day, it’s about more than that. It’s about Ohio State football, and there’s a lot of people counting on us to do it right.”

Day trusted his gut and moved forward, choosing Knowles and igniting an overhaul, losing linebackers coach Al Washington and defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs and bringing in former Cincinnati cornerbacks coach Perry Eliano to coach safeties and former Jacksonville Jaguars coach Tim Walton to coach cornerbacks.

For Smith, money wasn’t the issue.

He told Day before the hiring process started that Ohio State has to do what it has to do and that “the market’s the market and we have to be in it if we want to be the best," giving him a blank check to bring Knowles to Columbus.

Next season, Knowles will make $1.9 million as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator, making him the highest-paid coordinator in college football. Walton is set to make $700,000, while Eliano will take in $450,000.

That’s all Knowles wanted too, wanting to join a program where he would be the best, be at the best and compete against the best. And when he put all of those things together, it was Ohio State.

“For someone who has worked his way up in the profession, it’s really, for me, the culmination of a professional dream to get to Ohio State and to be with the best in the business,” Knowles said.

This is what Smith and Day were focused on this offseason.

Even as rumors swirled regarding the Ohio State head coach’s connection with NFL head coaching jobs, the Ohio State athletic director ensured that those rumors had been just that: rumors.

Smith feels no pressure to restructure Day’s contract. And he’ll use the approach he always has: paying coaches consistent with expectation and consistent with performance, but using a benchmark for other coaches in the league and around the country.

Day’s contract with Ohio State will end after the 2026 season. He’s set to make $7.6 million in 2022, with possible increases to his compensation package coming after Feb. 1, 2023.

But Day’s happy with Ohio State. He said as much, telling recruits and those around him that he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

Smith and Day’s focus was not on Day this offseason. It was on those around him.

Smith does know Day’s time is coming.

“We’ve been focused on the team,” Smith said. “There will be a time where he and I sit down and talk about his contract, but we haven’t done that at this point in time. And I’ll let you know when that’s done.”