:osu:
Interesting Article on Andy Geiger
<HR style="COLOR: #888888" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->
NY Times Article
<HR style="COLOR: #888888" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->Quote:
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">Amid Ohio State's Free Fall, It's Time to Bail Out
By WILLIAM C. RHODEN
Published: January 1, 2005
Sometime between Wednesday night and yesterday afternoon, I came to the conclusion that Andy Geiger, the Ohio State athletic director, should resign. Over the past two years, the Buckeyes' athletic program, under Geiger's watch, has suffered one nightmare after another. A proud program with a deep tradition is beginning to look like a renegade program.
Advertisement
As it turns out, Geiger, faced with the most trying times in his 11-year tenure, has been weighing his options.
"The better question is whether I want to keep doing this," Geiger said yesterday in a telephone interview. "There is no joy in this. You can't be effective as an A.D. or as a leader if you don't have the passion for it. I'm going to have to take some time to think about this."
The latest headache for Geiger and Ohio State came Wednesday, when the university suspended quarterback Troy Smith from the Alamo Bowl for receiving unspecified benefits from a booster.
The suspension came only a month after Maurice Clarett, the former Ohio State running back, made allegations that football players receiving extra benefits was not uncommon.
If Geiger resigns - and I think he has no choice - his departure would be one of the most unlikely falls from grace in intercollegiate athletics. He has been one of the most respected administrators in college athletics, but the recent scandals on his watch have made his position untenable.
"The issue for me is more whether I want to be here and do this as a way to end what has been a pretty darn good career than whether they want me here," he said.
Ohio State won the national championship in football two seasons ago. Clarett played well in that game and was a major reason the Buckeyes defeated Miami in double overtime. Since then, Ohio State and Geiger have been plagued by Clarett. In fact, the problem with Clarett began the week of the championship game, when he blasted the university for not paying his way to Youngstown, Ohio, so he could attend the funeral of a friend, whom he described as being like family.
Afterward, a series of disclosures emerged concerning Clarett: academic improprieties, falsifying the value of items stolen from his car, being given access to a car dealer's automobile, misleading N.C.A.A. investigators.
In a November ESPN The Magazine article, Clarett said he received free use of cars, bogus grades and cash from boosters. Geiger was incensed by the accusation and fired back with a vengeance at ESPN, saying that he refused to give Clarett any credibility when "he's been unable to tell the truth under any circumstances when I've been around him."
In the wake of the disclosures about Smith, Geiger said he wished he had held his tongue.
The university's dismissal of Jim O'Brien as basketball coach last summer for giving $6,000 to a recruit five years earlier and now the Smith revelation suggest that Ohio State's problems may be deep-rooted.
"I wish I had not been so vociferous in regard to Maurice," Geiger said. "But because of what he has put this university through, I have a hot button when it comes to Maurice Clarett."
Geiger also said yesterday that Clarett had contacted Ohio State through an intermediary. "He said he would recant his story if we said nice things about him to the N.F.L.," Geiger said.
The larger issue is that this Ohio State drama gets deeper and more personal each month. The publicity is awful for Ohio State and for Geiger, who must bear the burden of criticism, especially at an institution where everyone - from the president down to the football coach - says he knew nothing. Nothing.
Geiger, to his credit, has faced up and taken the public beating.
Last week, after being severely taken to task during an interview on ESPN, Geiger returned to his hotel room to find his wife near tears. "My wife was white and shaking, my son was beside himself," he said. "I'm thinking to myself, Why do I have to do this?' I've spent 33 years as an A.D. at some pretty good programs," he said. "This is horrible and grossly unfair.
"Because of one guy, this one guy, we've gone through two years of hell," he said. "I don't see how to shake it, I don't see how to get out of it."
The only way out is to resign. Geiger can stop the bleeding, save his good name and shift the negative focus away from O.S.U.
But Geiger may not be inclined to defend his name by stepping down. "You defend it best by staying," he said, "but I'm old enough that I'm not sure I want to risk my health and put my wife through this.
"This program is under firm control, and it's well managed," Geiger said. "I've been here 11 years, and the program is much better now than when I came in."
The question is whether the program - and the university - will be better if Geiger stays. Frankly, Coach Jim Tressel is just as culpable as Geiger - perhaps more. But his football team won a national championship, and in intercollegiate athletics, titles buy time.
Geiger has run out of time. He has been great for Ohio State, but he's got to move on. Things may only get worse. This is not a winnable game. (end)
I hate to open this can of worms but the thing that struck me about this article is the quote, Geiger also said yesterday that Clarett had contacted Ohio State through an intermediary. "He said he would recant his story if we said nice things about him to the N.F.L."
If what AG says is true, what does this do to MOC's credibility? (If you think he had any to begin with.)
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
