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

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Zem said:
"I drive fast, OK?..." Sounds like he'll fit right on I-270. Just another maniac flying past me as I come out of Easton, lol. :argh:

Don't know why they didn't go with one of the Pac12 AD's that were mentioned earlier, but Bjork must fit in with the vision at OSU. Anyways, back to all the positive stuff on the football team...
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I think that is what @Buckeye86 was referring to with the "other folks wouldn't be happy if they went with one of the expected" ...
 
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BuckBackHome said:
Couldn't find one qualified person with direct ties to OSU?

Hopefully this guy knocks the cover off the ball. But between SEC AD and a new President without a PhD I am not impressed with the recent hires.
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Did Andy Geiger or Gene Smith have any connections to Ohio State prior to being hired? I don’t think either did.

And a PhD seems like an arbitrary measure of whether someone can lead a large university—it didn’t seem to give the last two any particular benefit in successfully leading the institution. What benefit did it provide Karen Holbrook?

It seems like you’re just making things up as qualifiers for positions that don’t actually matter.
 
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BJORK BJORK BJORK BJORK

giphy.webp
 
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Buckeye86 said:
Did Andy Geiger or Gene Smith have any connections to Ohio State prior to being hired? I don’t think either did.

And a PhD seems like an arbitrary measure of whether someone can lead a large university—it didn’t seem to give the last two any particular benefit in successfully leading the institution. What benefit did it provide Karen Holbrook?

It seems like you’re just making things up as qualifiers for positions that don’t actually matter.
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Actually, the last two did quite well. Pretty much every metric exceeded expectations under Drake. The BoT gave him glowing reviews annually, and his next job was the most prestigious job in all of public higher ed. His successor was also doing very well until she had her run-in with Wexner and his wife. Holbrook was in over her head, but so was Gee 2.0. As far as Carter goes, I had some issues with his resume, but overall I like the guy so far and am optimistic.
 
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ORD_Buckeye said:
Actually, the last two did quite well. Pretty much every metric exceeded expectations under Drake. The BoT gave him glowing reviews annually, and his next job was the most prestigious job in all of public higher ed. His successor was also doing very well until she had her run-in with Wexner and his wife. Holbrook was in over her head, but so was Gee 2.0. As far as Carter goes, I had some issues with his resume, but overall I like the guy so far and am optimistic.
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The point being, a PhD didn’t give any of those people a unique ability to avoid the flaws that tanked their presidency, whether they had success in some areas or not.
 
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ORD_Buckeye said:
How was Drake's presidency "tanked?" He left on his own terms when his contract was up and landed as the President of the UC system.
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Some “tanked” harder than others. I believe Drake had a reputation for seeming cold and disengaged from the Ohio State community. I don’t think it was a big issue, but I also think it prevented him from being fully embraced by the campus and fan communities, which I’d speculate at least partially contributed to his desire to exit before a particularly long tenure.
 
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Buckeye86 said:
Did Andy Geiger or Gene Smith have any connections to Ohio State prior to being hired? I don’t think either did.

And a PhD seems like an arbitrary measure of whether someone can lead a large university—it didn’t seem to give the last two any particular benefit in successfully leading the institution. What benefit did it provide Karen Holbrook?

It seems like you’re just making things up as qualifiers for positions that don’t actually matter.
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Call me old school grumpy man, but I just think if you are in charge of an institution of higher learning you should at least have the highest education degree you can achieve. But I totally get your point as it doesn’t guarantee success.
 
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dragurd said:
Indeed he could be good or could be bad.

But I'm going to smack the next person that brings up Ties to Ohio or Ohio State as a job requirement. People like that sound like SCUM and their Michigan Man nonsense
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Yeah, I’m not that much of a homer. My comment is more along the lines of we have had so many people run through our athletic department there have to be a few qualified people, like Pat Chun.

Hopefully I am completely wrong with my opinion. I’m just not too impressed of the two big hires of one of my Alma maters.
 
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BuckBackHome said:
Call me old school grumpy man, but I just think if you are in charge of an institution of higher learning you should at least have the highest education degree you can achieve. But I totally get your point as it doesn’t guarantee success.
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I agree. I've looked into Carter's time at Corn and talked with some faculty at Ohio State about his hire. I do think there is an awful lot to like about him and can give the resume a pass. The keys for him are to hire a very good Provost and Research VP with extensive experience at an AAU university. Plus his Navy call-sign was "slapshot," and that has to count for something of a pass.
 
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Buckeye86 said:
Some “tanked” harder than others. I believe Drake had a reputation for seeming cold and disengaged from the Ohio State community. I don’t think it was a big issue, but I also think it prevented him from being fully embraced by the campus and fan communities, which I’d speculate at least partially contributed to his desire to exit before a particularly long tenure.
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Drake was cold and a big change from Gee. Considering, however, Gee's second tenure, a change from him wasn't a bad thing. As far I know, the Board loved him, and the faculty were about as positive as the faculty can be. I really don't know how the undergraduates felt about him. As for the fan community, the moment an Ohio State University President starts worrying about the "fan community," we've gone full Ono.

As for why he didn't stay for a long tenure, I'd suggest two reasons. First, as a former Chancellor of UC-Irvine, he was likely made aware that he'd be at the top of the list to be the next UC President. Second, it might have had something to do with the death threats and racist invective that was phoned into Bricker Hall in the weeks after the Urban suspension.
 
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