Despite another down year for Ohio State's men's basketball program and a shocking loss for Urban Meyer's football team to Michigan State on Senior Day, Gene Smith still has his Buckeye realm close to the top of college athletics.
The Buckeyes finished second to only Stanford in the Director's Cup Challenge, rewarded to the most successful athletic department in the country. The money keeps flowing in too, as Ohio State collected $170.9 million in revenue and is set up for plenty more on the way with a new Big Ten television deal in 2017 with both FOX and ESPN. Sports Business Journal reported last month the media rights package wraps together to the tune of $2.64 billion over six years, to be divided up throughout the conference.
So the view from the 60-year-old's office on the 10th floor of the Fawcett Center is both clear and dynamic. Ohio State's Vice President and Director of Athletics sat down with Eleven Warriors Wednesday to discuss everything from the school's decision to sell beer and wine throughout Ohio Stadium, the football team's young roster and recent historic NFL Draft haul, to Jim Harbaugh and Michigan.
You can find Smith's thoughts on the men's basketball team here.
Eleven Warriors: The news of the week is Ohio State dismissing fifth-year senior running back Bri'onte Dunn for a violation of team rules. Did Urban Meyer talk to you before he made that decision? There have been other incidents in past summers with players like Bradley Roby and Carlos Hyde who were suspended but not kicked off the team. What made this different?
Gene Smith: Every case is different. He always (talks to me). We had a great conversation about the case and he made his decision based upon the facts that we have. It was a smart decision.
All of our discipline cases, our coaches review those with me prior to decisions being made. He and I talked (Monday) morning and ultimately that was what he wanted to do. Reviewing the facts, it was the right call. The case is the case.
11W: Was there any discussion about revisiting the case if more details come to light?
GS: No. These facts were clear and evident. Clear and evident.
11W: As you look out your window here, what are you thinking about how things are going at Ohio State?
GS: Great. I think I've said it before, this is a different bit of people, great group of coaches. Our core leadership and they are the ones that drive what we want to do with our student-athletes. Such a great group and they're good teachers, good recruiters, great characters.
We had an unbelievable year. Great kids, we taught them real well. Phenomenal talent in every single sport. We've had some behavioral issues, but nowhere near what we've had in the past. It was phenomenal. I wish I could go back and relive it.
11W: Looking at the talent left the football program for the NFL, how much disappointment was there that the team lost to Michigan State and didn't even make it to the Big Ten Championship game? How much did you feel that loss ate away at Coach Meyer?
GS: Took him a long time. It took him a long time to recover. I'm not so sure he's still over it. It took him a long time to ultimately let it go to a point where he can actually be where he needed to be. To me, as I told him, that moment in time from Sunday when I first saw him to Tuesday, phenomenal leadership. To take that group, along with the staff and everyone else around them, the expectations that all of us have, to turn around and do what they did the next week? Phenomenal, because that can go one way or another.
I thought he managed it and led it excellently. Made the corrections that he needed to make, then we went to the bowl game and were evident there. It can spiral one way or another and he did not allow that to happen. We had Zeke's thing come out (Elliott called out the coaches following the loss to the Spartans and wrecked his vehicle and received a citation for a suspended license the day the team left for the Fiesta Bowl) and he addressed that I thought appropriately. That was a tumultuous time that if you don't do it the right way ... guys that are sitting there and knowing they're going pro, how do they respond? I thought it was phenomenal leadership after that loss. They brought it.
There was disappointment. We all are still disappointed in the loss, but I thought he responded well.
Ohio State lost its only game of the 2015 season 17-14 to Michigan State on Nov. 21.
11W: Have you ever witnessed such a thing in your career as having nine underclassmen declare for the draft?
GS: Never saw it. That was unreal.
11W: Meyer said this summer he is in favor of an underclassmen combine and even spoke with Alabama head coach Nick Saban about readjusting the timeline to declare for the NFL Draft. Have you discussed with your colleagues or Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany about that?
GS: I haven't heard that concept since the late 90s. That used to be talked about in the 90s and I haven't heard about it since then. I think it's something to talk about. I'm sure it'll be on our agenda moving forward. I haven't thought about it deeply because you've gotta think about that logistics around that. I think it could work.
11W: What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the words "satellite camps?"
GS: Limitations. I think this is just too much. I look at our coaches and I have an email saying I have one coach going this way and a coach going that way, we have to get the private plane to send these guys this way and that way. I want my coaches here. We're running camps and we have coaches leaving our camps to go to some satellite camp somewhere. That's not right. We invite these young people to come to our camps and be a part of our camps, I want my best teachers here. You come from wherever in Ohio, you want to see those coaches at The Ohio State University at that camp. That bothers me.
I just really want our coaches to have some time with our guys. We have all of our freshmen here and that's a great time for our coaches to spend quality time with the newbies who just got here for summer school. I think we need satellite camps, but I think we need to limit it. I don't know what the number is, but I'll defer to a survey we have out there and getting coaches feedback. There is a recruiting subcommittee that (Nebraska athletic director) Shawn Eichorst heads and we'll get some ideas from there. Hopefully one day there will be some legislation around that.
11W: Coach Meyer said at his youth camp with Dean Hood in Geneva, Ohio, last week he gave his coaches two weeks away because he fears burnout. Do satellite camps play into that?
GS: It's a lot. I'm a big believer in shutting down July totally. July should be shut down and that should be their time. Whether they get two weeks off, three weeks off, a whole month, I don't care. That time should be nothing. It should be a total dead period.
If you look at starting next week with media days it's a sprint. Because if you're fortunate like us, we are going to a bowl game, then you're recruiting, then you go to signing day and come back and you've got our guys who are left after the guys who left and then you gotta move to coaching the spring game. I'm just a big believer in having satellite camps, limiting them and shutting down July.
11W: Have you seen a timetable on potential legislation for satellite camps?
GS: No, I haven't seen one.
11W: Ohio State plans to sell beer and wine to all patrons at Ohio Stadium starting in the 2016 season. Is that it for the pilot program?
GS: Yes. The suites can buy hard liquor if they want, they preorder that, but the beer and wine available in the stands is the same brands inside and out. We'll see how it goes.
11W: Is that a security fear for you?
GS: It's interesting. I was one that never thought we'd get here and resisted it for so long. But over my years here we've had a lot of requests from fans to do it. The athletic council was one that actually kicked it off and we began to study other schools.
What really pushed me over the edge was Texas, which is capacity-wise in our neighborhood. (Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium's capacity is 100,119, Ohio Stadium's is 104,944) They had experience with it and all the studies show that your problems actually do go down. We have an alcohol and substance abuse institute here and they worked with our athletic council to contact all the other schools that do it and getting feedback. I was surprised and shocked.
We'll see. Supposedly it cuts down on the binge drinking before you enter the stadium, but who knows. Levy (Restaurants) is a great concessioner to have because historically they were mostly concessions for pro venues, so they're used to it. They have all the protocols in place to make sure we don't have underage drinking and all that kind of stuff. We know it's been snuck in here in the stadium for quite some time.
I'm not as concerned about the sell as how do we solve the problem with the binge drinking that we had before prior to the sell? We're going to do some different things with our security in the stadium, deployment-wise. We're funding more security, having a higher presence. It'll be a learning experience for all that.
11W: Do you have a cutoff time for alcohol sales in place?
GS: Yes, I think it's five minutes into the third quarter. Here is the reality: $8 or $9 beer. The behavior of the people, which Levy taught us, at a football game, you're sitting there watching football. At a concert, you might go back again and come back. Football game, it's a little different. You come in, you get your two beers, you sit down and you're sitting there.
11W: Sports Business Journal reported ESPN made an offer to the Big Ten for part of its broadcast rights. Does that impact any future networks for Ohio State football games?
GS: I'm really not allowed to talk about it until the commissioner handles all that. We kind of agreed that we wouldn't talk about all that stuff.
11W: What's it been like preparing to host an international soccer game in Ohio Stadium? Real Madrid and Paris St.-Germain are scheduled to play Thursday at 7:30 p.m. as part of the ICC's North American exhibition tour.
GS: It's crazy. It's going to be exciting. I think we're around 70,000 tickets, somewhere in that area. Hopefully, we have good weather. The walk up is usually big for those games, so I'm hoping we have good weather and it's going to be a new experience for us. Kind of like the concerts. I'm anxious to see the sod go in, see the event and see the sod go out. All the types of things that make sure it goes really well.
11W: The Big 12 discussed this week its plan for expansion in the coming years. Any more of that coming the Big Ten's way? How does that affect the Big Ten and Ohio State?
GS: No, when we added Maryland and Rutgers and got to the end we said we're done, we're going to pause for a while. We're integrating them, which has gone better than I thought. We'll watch what the Big 12 does, that might cause all of us to talk again when those things happen. I don't know what they'll do. We'll watch that.
11W: Greg Schiano's name appeared in recently unsealed court documents in Penn State's sexual assault case involving former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. Did his time at Penn State come up in the hiring process? Has that situation caused you to change the way you go about background checks and other things with potential new employees?
GS: We always do. He passed all his background checks here, we ultimately send everybody through background checks. At the end of the day, we'll just wait and see how that process plays out.
11W: It just seems like that stuff never stops coming out.
GS: That's why I'm not going to comment on it any further (laughs).
11W: From a strictly a football sense, what are your thoughts on Schiano and Greg Studrawa as Meyer's latest staff additions?
GS: Great guys. Urban's done a marvelous job of evaluating talent. So as we go toward the end of the season, he and I begin to talk about who might be in line for something. Then we start talking about replacement-type candidates. I feel good with where he ended up. I remember when Stan Drayton left, we talked long and hard about some guys and we end up with Tony Alford, who is just a stud.
11W: Are you going to Rio for the Olympics? (Ohio State has 12 current or former athletes participating, including wrestling national champion Kyle Snyder and former football player Nate Ebner)
GS: No. It's going to be crazy to watch. I've never gone to the Olympics and never will. Beautiful time for me to sit and watch. I like to watch it on TV and find our kids. I'll do my best to find Kyle. He is a different breed, man.
11W: How do you look at Tom Ryan's wrestling program? Penn State is currently the class of the sport, winning five of the last six national titles. Ohio State won in 2015.
GS: They're gettable (Penn State). There is a lot of talent in the state of Ohio too and Iowa, that corridor. It's very doable. I'm sure you have some from the east, we have some from the east, but you can get a lot from this part of the country.
Recruiting is the game, they start looking at them when they're like in the fifth grade it seems like. Tom's done a marvelous job. We really are fortunate that he's able to hold pretty much on to his staff. He's doing a great job. We hope to win it again.
11W: Any update on the timeline of Covelli Arena? (Ohio State plans to construct the $30 million multi-sport arena in addition to a $32 million Student-Athlete Development Center along Olentangy River Road)
GS: Hopefully we can break ground next year. That's our goal. It'll probably take two years to get it done. We really needed to find a way to get all of our Olympic athletes under one umbrella as opposed to satellite weight rooms and training rooms. Then with Covelli we'll have about 4,000 seats and be much more intimate.
11W: Can't have a meeting without talking about Ohio State's biggest rival. A comment you made about Michigan's satellite camps helping 'kick start' Jim Harbaugh's program blew up almost immediately. He responded on Twitter with a direct shot at you. How stunning was that?
GS: I don't know him, so my comment wasn't personal. He made it personal, which caused me to contact his AD (Warde Manuel), who is one of my personal friends. Just so he could understand where I was coming from.
That's why I offered the apology to Warde and people forget that I was at Eastern Michigan University for 10 years. So every time I walk through that stadium or go back to Ann Arbor there are a lot of high-fives. My apology was to those people because I always take the high road if I can. I was a little shocked, but that's why you take the high road.
11W: Harbaugh's presence is certainly changing things not only in the Big Ten but across college football. Can you feel that?
GS: He's a good coach. The satellite camp thing, he's pushing the envelope, he's chasing it hard. And why wouldn't he? It's upped the game. When Urban came in the league, he upped the game. Everybody has a different style.
That was unfortunate. I was disappointed he took it the wrong way. You had to be there to understand it. He misunderstood it, but it happens.
