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

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Q&A: Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith
'It's not just about winning games'
Sunday, June 15, 2008 3:53 AM

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Neal C. Lauron DISPATCH
Gene Smith and his staff have outlined a specific set of goals for each sport, including graduation rates and the number of community service hours athletes should provide.

Gene Smith, starting his fourth year as athletic director at Ohio State, recently received one of his profession's higher honors, the John Toner Award, from the National Football Foundation.

Named after the former University of Connecticut athletic director and NCAA president, it goes annually to an athletic director "who has demonstrated superior administrative abilities and shown outstanding dedication to college athletics and particularly college football."

But Smith, along with OSU President E. Gordon Gee, wants to push the athletic director position beyond simply athletics. It's one reason Smith expressed no interest when the position opened two weeks ago at Notre Dame, his alma mater. "I am very happy being at the Ohio State University and am excited about its new leadership of the university," he said.

Smith recently sat down with The Dispatch's Tim May to discuss recent developments and strategies.

Question: What did it mean to you to win the John Toner Award?

Answer: I will never forget -- 1984, I'm sitting in a meeting with NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics) officials, and John Toner and Bill Flynn, two great athletic directors. When I'd sit in those meetings, almost everything (Toner) said I wrote down. I was a young athletic administrator and I was learning. I mean, the guy is a stud. To have my name associated with his in any way is a huge honor. And this award caused me to reflect on the people I've worked with every day -- not just here, but everywhere I've been. I don't think it is recognition for a single year, (but) for what's been accomplished over time.

Q: When you walked into Ohio State, you opted not to sweep the athletic administration ranks of those loyal to your predecessor, Andy Geiger. You did shuffle some jobs the past three years and brought in a few new faces, but there was no wholesale purge.

A: That's my leadership style. Everyone knows I had a lot of respect for Andy, so I knew he had good people here. I needed to organize them to fit my style. We went through that first year, assessing people and situations. And we had a few fires when I got here. The NCAA investigation (of the men's basketball and football programs) was bigger than what most people realize relative to time and the commitment it needed to get the outcome we got.

But in the second year I was able to organize and start the process of the strategic plan. It was easy to do, though, because of the people here and their values. In an organization as large as this, if you have people whose values are not aligned, you are going to have trouble creating a culture. We have a culture right now of collaboration, communication and innovation, the things most corporations would enjoy having. That's why we're on this trajectory, because 319 people have bought into the vision.
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BuckeyeXtra - The Columbus Dispatch : Gene Smith: 'It's not just about winning games'
 
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Nice article. I like the way that Smith, Tressel, and Gee are all walking in step. They all share the belief that winning games is more of a "by-product" of running a great program with the right coaches and students, rather than making winning the end goal and measuring stick. OSU has a great core for the athletic program, and it sounds like Smith is determined to develop each sport in to a national contender. It's exciting to envision a time when Ohio State's teams lead the nation in academics, community service, and rankings. Raise the bar high and set an example for other schools to live up to.
 
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CPD

OSU athletic director signs extension

Thursday, October 16, 2008
Columbus -- In June, Athletic Director Gene Smith reaffirmed his commitment to Ohio State by issuing a statement that he wasn't interested in the open AD job at Notre Dame, his alma mater. Now he's reaffirmed it again with a contract extension.

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Dispatch

OSU signs Gene Smith to stay athletics director until 2016

Thursday, October 16, 2008 3:54 PM
By Ken Gordon


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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Dispatch photo
Gene Smith



Calling Ohio State "my final home," athletics director Gene Smith signed a four-year contract extension that runs until June 30, 2016.
Smith has been at OSU since 2005. In the summer of 2007, the OSU board of trustees upped his annual salary from $450,000 to $600,000.
This past summer, Smith was mentioned as a candidate for the athletic director position at Notre Dame, his alma mater, where he played and coached football in the 1970s.
The extension, announced today, does not include another big increase, but rather a modest raise to $648,000. It also increases the annual value of his potential performance bonuses from $75,000 to $100,000.

Continued................
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Lantern
AD Gene Smith featured in black business leader series

Stephanie Webber

Issue date: 2/12/09 Section: Campus


The Fisher College of Business Black MBA Association has invited four black leaders to speak to the Columbus community as part of its Black History Month speaker series.

Jay Johnson, president of the Black MBA Association, said the speakers will focus on how their challenges and experiences relate to black history. The speakers have diverse professional backgrounds, ranging from athletics and education to finance.

The series, called "Black Leaders and their Impact on Society," featured Gene Smith, athletic director at Ohio State, on Feb. 4. Smith is the first black athletics director at OSU. Students, faculty and staff attended his speech.

"These are opportunities for everyone to consider how race impacts people's lives," said graduate student Kimani Phifer.
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OSU's Gene Smith receives top honor
Friday, April 10, 2009
From staff reports

Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith will be honored with the National Football Foundation's 2009 Distinguished American Award.

Smith will receive the award at the NFF Northeastern Ohio Chapter's 21st annual Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet on Monday, May 11, at LaCentre in Westlake.

Smith, a graduate of St. Peter Chanel, was a member of Notre Dame's 1973 national championship football team and served as an assistant football coach at his alma mater after graduating in 1977.

In 1983, Smith began his administration career as assistant athletic director at Eastern Michigan. In 1985, he was named interim athletic director before coming the permanent AD a year later. Smith also was the AD at Iowa State and Arizona State.
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OSU's Gene Smith receives top honor - Cleveland.com
 
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Smith appointed NCAA chair for 2010-11
Ohio State athletics director Gene Smith has been appointed chair of the Division I men?s basketball committee for the 2010-11 season.

The committee is in charge of seeding for the 65-team tournament, including the selection of the 34 at-large teams. Smith has served on the committee for three years.

UCLA?s Dan Guerrero will chair the committee next season, succeeding SEC commissioner Mike Slive.

?Being a member of the men?s basketball committee is a prestigious honor that comes with incredible responsibility to our membership,? Smith said in a statement released by Ohio State. ?? There is a high level of admiration for the way past chairs have handled keeping with the mission of this committee, and I look forward to the opportunity to continue the important work of this group.?

For those thinking that this might improve Ohio State?s seeding or chances for an at-large berth if the Buckeyes are a bubble team, think again. Committee members must leave the room when teams from their conference are being discussed and must abstain from any vote about their merits. The SEC, for example, had only two at-large teams selected last year with Slive as chair. Neither team was considered a bubble team in what was a down year for the conference.
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Smith appointed NCAA chair for 2010-11 (Hoops & Scoops: an OSU basketball blog)
 
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OSU's Smith will head NCAA panel in 2010-11
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
By Bill Rabinowitz
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Gene Smith didn't know he'd be nominated by his peers on the NCAA Division I men's basketball committee to serve as its chairman for the 2010-11 season.

The Ohio State athletics director certainly didn't expect to win by acclamation. But that's what happened last week when the 10-person committee met in New Mexico.

"I really wasn't sure who might get nominated," Smith said. "I had an interest, but I wasn't sure what my colleagues were thinking."

He found out when the committee decided he was the only nominee needed.

"It's a nice surprise, and an honor," Smith said. "I think they just watched me work over the years and felt I was positioned to lead the group for one year."
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BuckeyeXtra - The Columbus Dispatch : OSU's Smith will head NCAA panel in 2010-11
 
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I truly hope that the mentions of a 'black' AD do not overshadow the accomplishments of Gene Smith. It bothers me. Doesn't bother me if he is held up to youngsters as an example of 'How to do it Right', as long as whomever stops right there, without any other ending words.

Mr. Smith is not a change agent like Geiger was, but OSU hired Geiger to clean house. And he did, plus put OSU in debt for the next three or four generations for all the beautiful faciltiies, but those were needed as well. OK, now OSU is 'shaken up' and the drink has settled, and in steps Gene Smith. Great position, and a great choice to fill it. Now that things are running smoothly, it takes a special person to build the collaboration between the President/Board and the trenches/coaches. That appears to be working very well. The emphasis (thank Mr. Gee - the first time) is on academics (as it should be). Tress & Co have recruited quality students (and people) who happen to be athletes (pretty darn good ones at that), rather than the marginal students who played good football (for a previous FB coach). Thank the Notre Dame training for that? Thank Vanderbilt for being Gee's incubator/test case? Some of the above, all of the above probably.

Anyway folks, it's been said several times before that these may be the Golden Years of our generation. 'Twas the Best of Times (OSU FB success), and the Worst of Times '(OSU FB punishing losses in BCS). All roller coasters go up and down as they go forward. Just can't get too high, or too low.

Congrats to Gene Smith, keep on doing whatever you're doing......

:gobucks3::gobucks4::banger:

PS, I like to read the names of the starters on the honor rolls, rather than the 4th string long snapper (no offense to long snappers) in the BSB. That is more telling than the W-L records (including the major fields of study). Quality is improving everywhere.
 
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