As Gene Smith reached his 60s, he and his wife, Sheila, would discuss when he should retire as Ohio State's athletic director.
Every year, he remained enthused about the job and wasn't ready to step down.
Smith had downplayed the possibility of his retirement in recent years and signed a four-year contract extension in 2021. In an interview with The Dispatch in June, he said he was healthy and having fun.But in the next two months, retirement became more appealing.
“I've always felt, and my mentors have always said, you'll know when it's time,” Smith said Wednesday morning at a press conference. “This summer, Sheila and I sat down and she was asking me a million questions, and I just said, 'It's time.' There's a right time for certain leaders and the right time (for) an institution.”
Smith will retire effective June 30, 2024, ending what will be a 19-year tenure at Ohio State. A search for Smith’s successor will begin once the university hires a new president to replace Kristina Johnson, who stepped down in May. Smith said he hopes to provide that president with “recommendations on the characteristics they might consider" for his successor.
Smith was previously the athletic director at Arizona State, as well as having made stops at Iowa State and Eastern Michigan, before moving to the helm of the Buckeyes' athletic department in 2005.
His announcement comes at a pivotal time. Collegiate athletics is in the middle of a whirlwind of big changes, the latest happening last week when the disintegration of the Pac-12 Conference resulted in the addition of Oregon and Washington to the Big Ten.
Smith, 67, said the timing of his retirement was unrelated to all the tumult.
Smith's tenure at Ohio State has been a monumental one. He is considered one of the most influential athletic directors in the country and has served on numerous NCAA boards and committees, including as chairman of the NCAA men's basketball tournament selection committee.
The Buckeyes have captured 32 team and 117 individual national championships during Smith’s tenure, including winning the first College Football Playoff in 2014.OSU also won three men's volleyball titles, a wrestling championship, and Buckeye women's hockey was the NCAA's top team in 2022.
“There are so many great moments,” Smith said. “But I'm most proud of the fact that we've been able to create a culture where we developed a student-athlete holistically. That means so much to me.
“It took us a little bit to transition to that, to make sure that when a student-athlete leaves our little cocoon, she or he is ready for the next chapter in their life. We didn't do that well when I first came.”
Smith also served as a mentor to numerous proteges in a field that historically lacked diversity. Pat Chun became the first Asian-American to lead a Power-5 conference program when he left OSU for Washington State. Ben Jay was the AD at Hawaii. Diana Sabau, deputy commissioner of the Big Ten, just accepted the AD job at Utah State. Heather Lyke is the Pittsburgh athletic director. Martin Jarmond, who is Black, is the AD at UCLA.
"Gene's impact in college athletics is immeasurable," Jarmond said in a text to The Dispatch. "He has rightfully become one of the most respected leaders in college athletics.
"Personally, I have been the most impacted by his values, humbled by his teaching, and will forever be the most grateful for his time. I've learned just as much from him about fatherhood and empathy as I have about running a college athletic department. His authenticity, his compassion... he's truly one of one. Our industry will unquestionably feel the loss of his leadership. Fortunately, we get one more year to learn from and celebrate him."
Smith said he's proud of the role he has played in opening the pipeline for diversity. The Cleveland native was 29 when he got the Eastern Michigan job in 1985 after playing football for Notre Dame and serving as an assistant coach for the Fighting Irish. There were only two other minority athletic directors at the time.
"I decided that I was just going to do my job and try to do it excellently and disregard the color of my skin," Smith said. "And that was hard because there were a lot of rooms that I walked into in the '80s and early '90s where there were people in the room that didn't want me there. I knew that.”
He said he was thankful for the ones who welcomed him such as Arizona AD Cedric Dempsey, Texas AD DeLoss Dodds and Michael Clearly, the head of the national athletic directors association.
"I've always felt that it was an honor and a privilege to be (among) the first," he said, "and I didn't see it as a burden except that in the early years, I knew I couldn't fail because if I failed I'd be the excuse. That's not true today in a lot of places. It still exists, but it's not as true today with the hiring authorities as it was then. Because if I failed, it would have been, 'See, they can't do it.' So I'm proud of that. I'm proud and blessed to have had this career."
Smith's tenure also has had its share of low moments and controversies. The worst, he said, was the tattoo-and-memorabilia scandal that caused the forced resignation of football coach Jim Tressel in May 2011. Star quarterback Terrelle Pryor left school and numerous other players missed much of the 2011 season under suspension. Ohio State finished 6-7 after losing its final four games under Luke Fickell.
“2011 was hell,” he said. “That was painful. The student-athletes who were impacted didn't deserve the penalties that they had to deal with. That was hard. People were effective negatively. That was a hard time. Helping Luke Fickell through that year was hard. I have to compliment him for his resiliency and his commitment.”
Ohio State hired Urban Meyer in November 2011. Meyer went 12-0 in his first season, but NCAA sanctions banned OSU from the postseason. After the 2014 national title, the Buckeyes reached the CFP semifinals in 2016.
Two years later came the Zach Smith saga. The wide receivers coach, who was the grandson of former Buckeye coach and Meyer mentor Earle Bruce, was accused of domestic violence by his then-wife. Meyer initially denied having knowledge of the allegation. After an investigation, OSU president Michael Drake suspended Meyer for the first three games of the 2018 season. Drake also suspended Gene Smith for two weeks. Smith said at the time that he'd failed as a leader to alert others about the allegations.
"2011 was harder than (2018), but that was hard," Smith said. "I was disappointed that we were there. I was disappointed that the student-athletes had to bear the pain of that, disappointed that Buckeye Nation had to bear the pain of that.
"So it was hard. In my career, not just here but at Arizona State, Iowa State and Eastern Michigan, there's been times I wish I could have done something different. But any leader who says that everything was smooth and that when they look back they wouldn't have changed a decision they've made, I'm not so sure they're being 100% honest."
Meyer retired at the end of the 2018 season, and Smith tabbed Ryan Day to succeed him. Smith had named Day the acting coach when OSU placed Meyer on administrative leave before his suspension. That was a surprise considering Day hadn't been a head coach and coordinators Greg Schiano and Kevin Wilson had been.
Day, who is 45-6 as he enters his fifth season, said he's indebted to the trust Smith placed in him.
"I couldn't be any happier for Gene and Sheila," he said. "What they've done at Ohio State and the 19 years that they've dedicated themselves, they've poured their heart and soul into Ohio State athletics and just the university in general. What I owe and my family owes him, I can't even really verbalize. Our relationship is going to go on forever."
Day said Smith has helped him navigate through the challenges an OSU coach faces as well as dealing with all the changes that have transformed college sports.
"I just think about the 36 sports and over 1,000 athletes that he manages, and all the coaches," he said. "There's just so much going on here at Ohio State. There's so much that comes at him politically. The way that he's handled that with grace is remarkable."
Now Smith believes the time is right to step aside.
"I've always wanted to leave a place better than I found it," he said. "But I also want to leave a place that when the next person comes in, it gives them a chance to transition as smooth as possible. They now have that ability with this team (of administrators and coaches). It always wasn't that way. We've been unstable a little bit."
Smith's name has been floated over the years as a candidate for conference commissioner. When he was asked if he might consider that after he left OSU, he smiled and pointed for an answer from Sheila, who was in the far left back of the room.
"Hell, no," she said as her husband burst out in laughter.
This story will be updated.
