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Ohio State Univ.
AD Gene Smith |
With two national championship rings (one as a defensive end, the other as an assistant coach),
GENE SMITH knows what it takes to succeed on the football field. He left the arena briefly to join the marketing department at IBM in ‘81, but returned to college after two years, first as assistant AD and then as AD at Eastern Michigan before leaving to direct the athletic program at Iowa State in ‘93. As AD at
Arizona State (‘00-05), Smith oversaw the completion of a $30M capital campaign and a school-record graduation rate for student athletes. An Ohio native and past president of NACDA, he joined Ohio State last March, taking over the largest athletic department in Division I. Smith spoke recently with SportsBusiness Journal New York bureau chief
Jerry Kavanagh.
PERSONAL
Date and Place of Birth: 12-18-55 in Cleveland, Ohio
Education: B.A., Business Administration, Notre Dame, ‘77
FAVORITES
| Piece of music: STEVIE WONDER’s “That Girl.” |
| Vacation spot: Destin, Florida. |
| Author: JAMES ALLEN. |
| Sporting event: NCAA basketball tournament. |
| Movie: “The Negotiator.” |
| Last book read: “The Da Vinci Code.” |
| Typical day off spent: with my wife. |
| Athlete you most enjoy watching: TIGER WOODS. |
| Favorite sports memory: Watching JIM BROWN with the Cleveland Browns every Sunday with my dad. |
| Management style or philosophy: It’s inclusive. I believe people are the heart and soul of all that matters. |
| Best advice you received in professional career: It is about leadership style frankly. There are so many different styles, from democratic to coercive to authoritative and so on. You need to implement those different styles based upon the business situation. |
| Best career decision: Getting into athletic administration after being a coach and working for IBM. |
| Most influential person: My father, TED SMITH. |
| Biggest challenge: Managing expectations. |
Q: You are a former NCAA football player and assistant coach. Have those points of view been helpful to you as athletic director?
Smith: They’ve been invaluable because I never forgot those experiences, and they’re transferable to today’s responsibilities. I understand what the athletes go through; I understand what the coaches go through.
Q: MYLES BRAND said that the NCAA “needs to define better what the collegiate model of athletics is.” He said the NCAA has to separate itself from the model of pro leagues and “be clearer about the principles that underlie intercollegiate athletics.” How do you define the collegiate model of athletics?
Smith: We are an educational unit within the umbrella structure of higher education. I kind of summarize it by saying we have this special incubator where we can serve the special needs of some talented and gifted individuals.
Q: According to the U.S. Dept. of Education, Ohio State’s athletic program generated more money ($89.7M) in the ‘04-05 academic year than any other college program. How difficult has it been to manage that budget?
Smith: It’s complex but not difficult. Actually it’s enjoyable.
Q: Ohio State has the nation’s largest athletic program, as far as the most teams (36) and athletes (over 900). Not all of those teams make money. Why retain the unprofitable ones?
Smith: It aligns with our philosophy. We believe in creating as many opportunities for young people with special talents to have a quality educational experience.
Q: How does a Division I student-athlete strike a balance with all the demands on his/her time: academics, practice, travel, games, rest, nutrition and so forth?
Smith: A perfect question. First of all, by listening to those who have experience in doing it, and then proper planning.
Q: Is that something in which the athletic administration is heavily involved?
Smith: Definitely, right off the bat. We try to build a culture where our student-athletes learn from one another and our upperclassmen spend the time helping our first-year students get through that transition.
Q: According to a story in USA Today late last fall, the NCAA is considering an incentive program that could award colleges up to $100,000 for athletes’ academic performance. Isn’t that like rewarding someone for proceeding through a green light? Shouldn’t a student be expected to perform?
Smith: We’re on the same page. I am at this point in time not a proponent of that. I believe I need to be open and keep listening, but I think that’s what we’re here to do. I’m a believer in the program that we have in place, but I’m not sure that we need to have the incentive part.
Q: Should college athletes be paid?
Smith: No.
Q: Why does the NCAA care about where or how a college athlete makes money outside college? JEREMY BLOOM, for example.
Smith: I think it’s a couple of things. One is we have not got to a point where we trust one another. And each institution is in a different economic setting. So, it becomes a recruiting advantage if you’re in a market where student athletes have access to those types of opportunities, as opposed to being in a market where those opportunities are limited. That’s one reason. It’s a long list, but that’s the biggest reason that I see.
Q: In his autobiography, BOB KNIGHT, an Ohio State alumnus, challenged college presidents to clean up academics. He wrote: “Tie the number of scholarships you can give to the number of graduates you have. A player graduates, you can replace him. A kid doesn’t, you have to wait an established time to use that scholarship again.” What do you think of his plan?
Smith: It’s very similar, fundamentally and conceptually, to what we have now under the new APR structure with retention point eligibility. That’s the NCAA plan. You can lose access to a scholarship as a penalty in the current NCAA APR/graduation rate formula. This is brand new, just instituted last year. So, if a student-athlete leaves your institution and he or she is not eligible -- meaning they are not in good academic standing -- you lose two points and you lose a scholarship.
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Smith Feels Coaches’ Responsibilities
Extend Off The Field |
Q: PETE NEWELL said about Bobby Knight, “What he does is the single most important thing in coaching: He turns out educated kids who are ready for society.” Is that the role of a college coach?
Smith: No question. That’s the role of our department. In the end, we want to be able to develop people who contribute to tomorrow’s complex society.
Q: Should a coach be responsible for his players’ academic progress?
Smith: He should be a part of the group that is responsible.
Q: About coaches’ salaries, NORMAN LEVITT, a mathematician and teacher at Rutgers, in a N.Y. Times article, wrote: “The prominence of the athletic department and the ridiculous salaries to coaches is demoralizing to most of the faculty.” Any comment on that?
Smith: I understand it.
Q: Is that a problem for colleges?
Smith: No, because it is reality.
Q: If you could change one thing about intercollegiate athletics, what would it be?
Smith: That’s a big, bodacious question. There are so many. But I would do my best to find a way to eliminate the Internet/recruiting publications that young people have to deal with at the age of 16 and 17.
Q: Why?
Smith: If you track the way the culture is going in recruiting in the major sports, there’s so much on the Internet and the young kids are being interviewed by so many publications, in my view it’s become intrusive in their lives when they’re juniors and seniors in high school. At that age, that’s a challenge.
Q: What’s the biggest challenge facing the NCAA?
Smith: Keeping a doable agenda in front of the membership. I think our diversity makes it difficult to accomplish too many things. We need to keep the focus on a couple of initiatives and get to those, complete them and move on.
Q: You have said that the reason Division I-A does not have a playoff system for football is politics and money. What did you mean by that?
Smith: Again, it’s represented in our diversity among all of our schools and the fact that more schools will be shut out of that opportunity than are shut out of the opportunity to have access to the BCS. And the fact that the playoff would generate so much more money, people are concerned about that massive amount of money being generated for intercollegiate athletics.
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Smith Would Be Open To Replacing
BCS With College Football Playoff System |
Q: Could a football playoff system be implemented that includes the BCS bowls?
Smith: Yes, I think so. Definitely.
Q: Would you be in favor of a college football playoff for Division I-A?
Smith: I’m open to listen. If the right model’s in place and all the things that I’m concerned about would be addressed, I think I’d listen.
Q: We mentioned the size of the athletic program and the revenue it generates. Ohio State started off the new calendar year with a victory in the Fiesta Bowl, and the men’s basketball team is off to a great start. By the way, is that team eligible for the NCAA tournament?
Smith: Right now, it is.
Q: What’s the secret to the Buckeyes’ success?
Smith: Coaches doing a marvelous job of recruiting and teaching.
Q: What’s the best part of your job?
Smith: Going to athletic contests -- all of them (riflery, tennis, whatever) -- and watching kids compete.
Q: How do you set Ohio State apart from its competitors?
Smith: Continue to provide maximum opportunities for young people. We can afford to help young people grow up through sports participation and competition, so we try to continue to be one of the biggest and the best.
Q: In a sports video you made (“Give It Your All! Defining Yourself Through Sports Participation”), you talk about sportsmanship. Has the line separating sportsmanship from showmanship become blurred?
Smith: I think it has. We’ve done a better job over the last few years but we need to continue to work on it.
