Latest news with #GeneSmith
USA Today
5 days ago
- Business
- USA Today
Former Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith to join Big Ten school as consultant
Former Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith has joined Maryland as a consultant Former Ohio State Athletic Director just couldn't quite get enough of golf and travel, apparently. After riding off into the sunset with retirement a year ago, according to a report from the Columbus Dispatch, Smith will act as a consultant to the Maryland Athletic Department. The post is designed to last six months, and the former AD seemed to welcome the ability to keep his mind active and fresh. 'You have to have something to keep you mentally active,' Smith said to the Dispatch, 'and the consulting and board work keeps me mentally active. Obviously, I'm not working 80-plus hours a week.' The news makes sense considering Smith will be working with former Ohio State associate athletic director for marketing and communications Jim Smith, who just accepted the position of Athletic Director at Maryland last month. The plan, according to the story, is for Smith to be available for bi-monthly Zoom calls and other impromptu sessions as needed to help Smith navigate his renewed foray into big-time college sports. 'I've got over 40 years of war wounds in this business,' Gene Smith said. 'It'll just be on what he's dealing with at the time.' Two Smiths working together to solve what ails Maryland seems like a match made in 'Terps heaven. Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.
Fox News
12-05-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
Urban Meyer recalls threatening to quit Ohio State over push back for idea to hold 'church service' for team
Urban Meyer was one of the most successful college football coaches in recent memory, as he led the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Florida Gators to national championships before he stepped away from the game. Meyer revealed during a sermon in Columbus, Ohio, at a non-denominational church that he threatened to leave the school after his idea to have a church service before team meetings on Sundays. He said he wanted to "bring church" to players who did not have time for it during the week. The former coach said the university's attorney told him that he was not allowed to have a Bible study nor was he allowed to have a church service. He recalled that he vowed to do it anyway. "I said, 'I'm really busy, we're doing it'. She got our athletic director," he said. Gene (Smith) comes over, I haven't told this story many times. But, he comes over … and he's like 'OK', and I said 'Gene, we're doing this, if not, you gotta let me go'. He's like, 'We're good, let's go talk.' "So, the compromise was that we had to call it 'reflection.' I don't know, in this day and age, your 18 to 21 years old, we take every second of their time. How can you not do that? That's more of the question. Instead of saying, 'How do you do it?' How do you not do it?" Meyer coached the Buckeyes from 2012 to 2018. The Buckeyes were the winners of the first College Football Playoff National Championship in 2014. He was 83-9 as Ohio State's head coach. He retired from coaching amid an investigation into whether he knew of abuse allegations against assistant Zach Smith. Ryan Day took over from there. Meyer coached the Jacksonville Jaguars for 13 games before he was fired in his first season. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
