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

[daddyphatsacs]

Great video, I appreciated hearing from him.

Question- if there's such an emphasis on "sensitive" conversations, how come Barry Alvarez keeps running his mouth?

Oh, wait... I think I just answered my own question.

I don't know, I kind of view it as a "Brownie is doing a heck of a job moment". OSU was caught flat footed a bit and now he's trying to exercise damage control.

 

[CHU]

I cannot get it out of my head and still find it comical that this is the person who will be taking down an arena named after one of his predecessors.

Not arguing what could happen to the rivalry game (good or bad), he could be part in taking down a couple of traditions or historical entities at Ohio State.

 

[Buckskin86]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dAMMV068pI]YouTube - OSU AD Gene Smith Discusses Divisions and Schedule Part 1[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd4gm0ngoX8]YouTube - OSU AD Gene Smith Discusses Divisions and Schedule Part 2[/ame]

 

[Jaxbuck]

Between selling out to Nike and allowing them to mess with the uniforms and now agreeing to the split of OSU/scUM I'm not a big fan of the man.

Some outsiders just never get it. Cooper never did. I think its safe to say Gene Smith never has nor ever will.

 

[Emperor Brutus]

No Gene, it wouldn't be "kinda cool" man really doesn't get it. Oh, and nice contradiction there props on trying to walk it back though. So you didn't hurt great traditions and rivalries by not falling into the "geographical trap" please just look at what you did to Wisconsin's traditions, sorry I'm not buying what he's selling. "You have to give divisions time to work, schedules are different things" anyone else feel like that was some ominous foreshadowing?

There is only one thing he can do to redeem himself in my eyes now, kick Stanford's ass and win the damn directors cup.

 

[Poe McKnoe]

"The Game" vs "The Games"

I'm not going to bash a Buckeye...
I'm not going to bash a Buckeye...
I'm not going to bash a Buckeye...

Good thing Gene Smith isn't a real Buckeye. First jerseys and now screwing up the Michigan game? Maybe he hasn't had a lot to do recently and figured he'd shake things up like Andy Geiger...unfortunately his shaking is hurting the Buckeyes and Ohio State.

The jerseys were a cool one time deal for the Michigan game last season. Now, this year too? I guess he doesn't really have a choice with Nike in his back pocket. I want to see the Scarlet and Gray, not the White and Black or the Red and Brown with camo, go up against the Maize and Blue.

Now the realignment? Basically they've taken the Ohio State - Michigan contest and said, "Hey, at least if we don't win this one there will be a do over next weekend". Unbelieveable. There's no joy in celebrating "The Game" when it's "The Games". Gene Smith, you're the AD of The Ohio State University, the most valuable franchise in the conference. Either you agreed with the alignment or you didn't flex your muscle for the sake of the fans and tradition. Hey Gene, I hear colored fields are the hip thing in college football; why not a scarlet field. The helmets seem like good space for advertising.

20 years from now, we're going to look back and ask ourselves how we fucked The Game up so bad.

 

[jlb1705]

He probably thinks it would be "kinda cool" to have woodwinds in the band.

 

[Buckskin86]

An hour with OSU athletic director Gene Smith
By Zack Meisel
[email protected]
Published: Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Lantern sports editor Zack Meisel sat down for an exclusive interview with Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith last week to discuss a number of topics, including Big Ten expansion and compliance issues in college athletics. The following is an excerpt from the interview. Check back with The Lantern all quarter for more from Meisel's interview with Smith.

The Lantern: Are you sick of the word ?expansion' yet?

Smith: No, not really. It's funny, because I'm watching everybody else. We're basically done for now. I don't know if we'll expand any more, I really don't. It's a possibility, but what's interesting is watching the rest of the landscape with the WAC and the Mountain West, and there's rumors about the SEC.

TL: When you see the turmoil at programs like USC and North Carolina, what goes through your mind?

GS: I feel for them. I've been there, as an athletic director, when I first came to Ohio State and actually had it at Arizona State. I was on the NCAA infractions committee, so I heard cases, Michigan's case, Utah's case, a whole bunch of them. So I feel for them, because at the end of the day, everyone's trying to do what's right. And there's some things you can't control. I don't know their particular situations. But do we have some bad people in the business? No doubt. But 99 percent of our people are trying to do it the right way, and outside influences take them to where they are.

http://www.thelantern.com/sports/an-hour-with-osu-athletic-director-gene-smith-1.1639834

 

[Buckskin86]

OSU bumps athletic director's salary to $1 million
Gee took action as big-money suitors lurked
Thursday, September 30, 2010
By Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

With his services in demand, Ohio State's Gene Smith became one of the nation's highest-paid athletic directors earlier this year.

Under terms of a contract addendum signed in June, Smith's base pay increased more than 20 percent, to $800,000, and he is guaranteed at least $1million a year.

The contract could be worth more than $1.2 million a year if Smith earns various incentive bonuses for athletic and academic performance.

The deal came after several schools tried to lure the 54-year-old, who in May was named the athletic director of the year by Sports Business Journal.

"There were a couple other institutions throwing everything but their endowment funds at him," OSU President E. Gordon Gee said yesterday. "We're blessed to have him, and we wanted to make sure we had him for an extended period."

http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...09/30/osu-bumps-ads-salary-to-1m.html?sid=101

 

[LitlBuck]

$1 million is a little too much for any athletic director. Maybe he has done some good things for the athletic department but I still maintain that the foundation for his success was laid down by his predecessor. If other schools come and he wants to leave, I say open door because there are other people in college athletics who probably could come close, at a lesser price, to what he is making.

Just a couple weeks ago, The Ohio State University lost a vice president who was one of the chief fundraisers for Ohio State to the University of New Hampshire and this vice president was only making $450,000.

 

[BayBuck]

$1 million is a little too much for any athletic director. Maybe he has done some good things for the athletic department but I still maintain that the foundation for his success was laid down by his predecessor. If other schools come and he wants to leave, I say open door because there are other people in college athletics who probably could come close, at a lesser price, to what he is making.

Just a couple weeks ago, The Ohio State University lost a vice president who was one of the chief fundraisers for Ohio State to the University of New Hampshire and this vice president was only making $450,000.

Open door, VPs can be replaced too.

Ohio State has tapped Andrew A. Sorensen, 72, a former president of the University of South Carolina and the University of Alabama to lead its $2.5 billion comprehensive campaign....
OSU President E. Gordon Gee called Sorensen one of the country's most senior leaders.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...new-osu-fundraiser-takes-on-huge-mission.html

And Weiler is said to have left for the East Coast to be closer to his family:

His salary will be $300,000 annually. He was paid $415,000 at Ohio State.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...10/09/15/fundraising-leader-to-leave-osu.html

 

[LitlBuck]

Open door, VPs can be replaced too.


http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...new-osu-fundraiser-takes-on-huge-mission.html

And Weiler is said to have left for the East Coast to be closer to his family:


http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...10/09/15/fundraising-leader-to-leave-osu.html

Yes. I knew that but the point I was trying to make was that I thought most students attended The Ohio State University, or any other university, for its academics and not its athletics. At least, I hope they do and what does a salary $1 million say to the people who do the majority of their teaching of the general student population.

 

[BayBuck]

Yes. I knew that but the point I was trying to make was that I thought most students attended The Ohio State University, or any other university, for its academics and not its athletics. At least, I hope they do and what does a salary $1 million say to the people who do the majority of their teaching of the general student population.

But as Gene Smith mentions in the original article, his compensation is dictated by the market (with UF's Foley and UT's Dodds as comparables), and OSU has the resources to compete in the market in its pursuit of excellence/eminence (for VPs and ADs alike) -- and keep in mind that Smith runs a self-sustaining department, so he's not taking money from academic salaries.

Smith oversees the nation's largest athletic program, which has a budget of about $118 million, includes 36 varsity sports and employs more than 300.

 

[Magua]

The way I look at it is, you only have ONE athletic director who overseas a lot of sports. Those sports bring the university A LOT of money (especially at Ohio State). You have way more teachers and professors than you do athletic directors.

 

[JBaney45]

At least, I hope they do and what does a salary $1 million say to the people who do the majority of their teaching of the general student population.

Professors have tons of job security and far less responsibilities relative to an AD. Professors usually aren't in it to maximize their earning potential, depending on their field they could usually be making much more in the private sector. I'm not bashing, I'd love to have their job and would probably make the same choice if I had a phd


I do agree that we haven't really seen that Smith is someone we "can't afford to lose" but we really don't see very much behind the scenes and if they believe in his ability to make some of the decisions that could come up over the next 5 years (Hint: Hiring Tressel's replacement when he retires) then it's money well spent.