It seems to me that Ohio State fans as a whole do not seem to have a lot of faith in Gene Smith and are quick to point out any potential shortcomings he may have as an AD. Why though? Is it solely because of how Smith handled the Jim Tressel/"TatGate" situation with the self-imposed ban, or are there other reasons?

By the numbers, under Gene Smith's tenure (2005-present) Ohio State's athletics across the board has seen some pretty high level of success (source Wikipedia):

• Big Ten Championships (47)
  • Men's: Baseball (x 1), Basketball (x 5), Football (x 6), Gymnastics (x 4), Soccer (x 2), Swimming (x 1), Tennis (x 4), Volleyball (x 6), Wrestling (x 2)
  • Women's: Basketball (x 5), Field Hockey (x 1), Golf (x 1), Rowing (x 3), Soccer (x 1), Softball (x 1), Track (x 2), Wrestling (x 2)
• National Championships/Titles (22)
  • Men's: Football (x 1), Pistol (x 6), Volleyball (x 3), Wrestling (x 1)
  • Women's: Rowing (x 3), Synchronized Swimming (x 6)
  • Co-Ed: Fencing (x 2)

Only doing a quick look and including Urban Meyer + the very recent Chris Holtmann, it seems like Smith has made some very solid coaching hires as well: Wrestling's Tom Ryan (2006), WBB's Kevin McGuff (2013), and Lacrosse's Nick Myers (2008)

So as an AD, it looks like Gene Smith has done a fantastic overall job, and should have earned at least some modicum of faith among the Buckeye faithful.

Or am I completely off-base? I could be because I have not compared Smith's resume to other AD's at other big name athletic departments, but at face value it looks above-average to excellent.