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Gene Smith (AD The Ohio State, '10 AD of the Year, '13 NAAC Organizational Leadership Award)

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It was a good interview, I thought.

The one thing he mentioned is that, due to the playoffs, they are going to start to do what they can to schedule tougher competition. He said we will be playing a top-10 team, a top-40 team, and a cupcake (or at least that one was inferred) each year.

Hopefully that does indeed happen. I'd love to see more mid-level BCS schools like California, Colorado and the like on the schedule.
 
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Gene Smith thought about leaving Ohio State, admits Big Ten has 'struggled'
By Michael Periatt and Patrick Maks
[email protected] and [email protected]
Published: Wednesday, October 3, 2012

OSU athletic director Gene Smith answers a question during a Wendesday afternoon interview with The Lantern.

Perhaps more than anyone else, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith has had a lot on his plate since the university?s ?Tattoo-Gate? scandal began in December 2010. In an interview with The Lantern, Smith talked about thoughts of leaving OSU, the school?s revamped compliance department, football coach Urban Meyer?s first season in Columbus and the possibility of a 2002 national championship reunion including former OSU coach Jim Tressel.

Thought about walking away

It has been more than 18 months and there are still plenty of OSU fans who think Smith should have lost his job because of the "Tattoo-Gate" scandal that led to Tressel?s firing.

Smith said there was never a moment he thought that was a possibility, but he did consider walking away for the sake of those around him.

?I never thought that I would be dismissed by our president because I really did nothing wrong,? Smith said. ?I did everything that I was charged to do and accountable for. Did I ever feel that I should leave? Never. That I should resign because of the pressure I was under? Never thought that. Did I ever have thoughts that I should walk away for the betterment of the institution and the people that I work with everyday and I serve? Yeah.

?I care more about those people and our athletes than I do anything. Sure I thought about (leaving), but I came to the conclusion that the best way for me to help them was to fight for them and make sure we stay on track.?

Those disappointed by that decision will likely not see a change anytime soon. Smith said he has not considered retirement and is very content with his situation at OSU.

?There?s no other job I?d rather have,? he said.

cont...

http://www.thelantern.com/sports/ge...-big-ten-has-struggled-1.2918833#.UG2MLFEa2Sp
 
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I'm just wondering what the reaction has been in Columbus as the Buckeyes continue to win and teams at the top of the rankings continue to drop. What have the insiders been thinking/saying as a result of no bowl game this year and any second-guessing on whether they should have done a self-imposed ban last season? Or is this something I shouldn't be asking in the OSU AD thread?
 
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BuckBackHome;2254150; said:
I'm just wondering what the reaction has been in Columbus as the Buckeyes continue to win and teams at the top of the rankings continue to drop. What have the insiders been thinking/saying as a result of no bowl game this year and any second-guessing on whether they should have done a self-imposed ban last season? Or is this something I shouldn't be asking in the OSU AD thread?

That last years bowl game was irrelevant, even to the seniors and most of the team, and a self-imposed ban was a no-brainer, especially after the second go round of booster issues with the dude from Cleveland (Digeronimo?).

It was no guarantee we would have avoided a bowl ban this year, but last year didn't make a difference, so it was worth a shot. Especially with the way our schedule looked this year. Even if you thought an undefeated season was a remote possibility, our schedule just laid out perfectly.

Boneheaded decision.
 
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billmac91;2259066; said:
That last years bowl game was irrelevant, even to the seniors and most of the team, and a self-imposed ban was a no-brainer, especially after the second go round of booster issues with the dude from Cleveland (Digeronimo?).

It was no guarantee we would have avoided a bowl ban this year, but last year didn't make a difference, so it was worth a shot. Especially with the way our schedule looked this year. Even if you thought an undefeated season was a remote possibility, our schedule just laid out perfectly.

Boneheaded decision.

qft. failure to monitor calls for 1yr ban. Gene thought it was no ban and here we are.
 
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OSU AD won't play 'what-if' game
Updated: November 19, 2012
By Austin Ward | BuckeyeNation

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A year later, with an undefeated team that might have been in position for a shot at a national championship, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith isn't going to deal with hypotheticals or hindsight to question a decision made in the middle of an NCAA investigation.

Whether or not a self-imposed bowl ban might have allowed the Buckeyes to escape additional sanctions and be eligible to compete for conference and national titles in 2012 has become a much more pressing argument with each passing win under new coach Urban Meyer. But Smith isn't going to be part of that discussion or do any second-guessing about the choices that were made in the fallout of the tattoo scandal that produced the penalties that will leave the Buckeyes with nothing else to play for after Saturday's season-ending showdown with rival Michigan.

"The decisions that we made relative to our NCAA case we made to the best of our abilities with the information in front of us," Smith said during a news conference Monday. "I am not into speculative positioning in life, I'm just not one of those guys relative to those kind of what-if scenarios.

"I could sit here and give you a million other what-ifs had we taken that (self-imposed bowl ban). I'm not going there."

The Buckeyes won't be going anywhere in the postseason either, despite an impressive 11-game winning streak to start Meyer's tenure that has sparked a Heisman Trophy campaign for quarterback Braxton Miller, clinched a division title that will be recognized by the Big Ten and produced a No. 4 ranking in The Associated Press poll.

Picking up some additional AP votes in hopes of a split national title will be all that's on the line Saturday, aside from the always important bragging rights against the Wolverines. For the handful of seniors that met with the media ahead of their last game in the program, that seemed to be good enough for them. But they also acknowledged the surprise and disappointment that came from the ruling the NCAA handed down last December that barred them from the postseason, particularly because they apparently didn't see it coming.

"When we heard, it was just kind of like shock," linebacker Zach Boren said. "We didn't know what to expect, and we were kind of told that we weren't going to get a bowl ban. We were kind of told that everything was going to be all right and we had heard from people who had done the investigation and stuff that we were going to be all right and what we already imposed was going to be more than enough.

"It was just kind of a shocking type thing."

cont...

http://espn.go.com/college-football...o-state-buckeyes-ad-consider-self-imposed-ban

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGt9rztVT7w"]Smith - YouTube[/ame]
 
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There's this guy named Mark Emmert. He seems hellbent on punishing beyond anything done by his predecessors. I'm of the opinion that had they self banned last season with a 6-6 record Emmert would have said... "thanks, but we're gonna add another year because you are getting off too easy with your already crappy season + bowl ban..." Given the repeat offender status he could have justified it easily. I guess the other argument is that they could have chanced it and rolled the dice.
 
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Delaware Buck;2260649; said:
There's this guy named Mark Emmert. He seems hellbent on punishing beyond anything done by his predecessors. I'm of the opinion that had they self banned last season with a 6-6 record Emmert would have said... "thanks, but we're gonna add another year because you are getting off too easy with your already crappy season + bowl ban..." Given the repeat offender status he could have justified it easily. I guess the other argument is that they could have chanced it and rolled the dice.

There was no reason....not 1, to go play that bowl game last year. The team didn't even want to play it. It was a season everyone (players/staff) just wanted to move on from.

Unless you are 100% positive there is no bowl ban on the table, you take a ban last year and force the NCAA to do something unprecedented.

It was really boneheaded.
 
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