Ohio State AD Gene Smith to retire: Longtime administrator became influential voice in college athletics

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith will retire, effective July 2024, the university announced Wednesday morning. Smith, currently in the middle of his 19th year leading the Buckeyes athletic department, has become one of the most influential administrators in college athletics over the past two decades. 

“I want to thank the leadership of The Ohio State University during my tenure for providing me the opportunity to serve as Senior Vice President and Wolfe Foundation Endowed Athletic Director for the past 18 years,” Smith said in a statement. “The presidents and many members of the Board of Trustees I have served afforded me the professional opportunity of a lifetime, and I am forever grateful. I have always believed that a leader seeks to be the right person at the right time in the life of the institution. I believe that July 2024 is the right time to welcome new leadership to build upon what we have achieved and continue to build upon the great tradition of excellence in athletics and business advancement at Ohio State.”

Smith’s tenure is the third-longest among the eight athletic directors in Ohio State’s history. The Buckeyes have finished as the top Big Ten team in the Director’s Cup standings eight times with Smith at the helm, and Ohio State’s teams have won 115 team Big Ten titles and 32 team national championships under Smith’s reign. 

Smith was responsible for hiring Urban Meyer in 2012 and made the decision to promote offensive coordinator Ryan Day in 2018 when Meyer stepped away from coaching. Meyer won a College Football Playoff National Championship and three Big Ten championships, while Day has led the Buckeyes to playoff appearances in three out of his four years at the helm. 

A Cleveland, Ohio, native, Smith was hired at Ohio State in April 2005. Prior to that, he was the athletic director at Arizona State (2000-05), Iowa State (1993-2000) and Eastern Michigan (1985-93). 

Smith’s retirement coincides with one of the most significant moments in college football history. In July 2024, as Smith steps down, the Big Ten will welcome four new teams to its ranks: USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington. 

All four programs previously played in the Pac-12, but looked elsewhere as their former conference struggled to solidify a long-term television deal. USC and UCLA were the first to make the move, announcing their departure for the Big Ten in July 2022. In July of this year, Colorado announced it would be leaving the Pac-12 for the Big 12, setting off another wave of realignment.

Washington and Oregon followed left a week later, following USC and UCLA to the Big Ten. Additionally, the College Football Playoff is set to expand to 12 teams in 2024, with an auto-bid for each power conference — including the Big Ten. To compensate for its swelling ranks, the Big Ten is doing away with divisions and going with an entirely new scheduling model featuring only a handful of yearly opponents. 

Whoever takes over for Smith will have to deal with this wave of change from the moment they start the job. The Big Ten is set to be one of the two most influential conferences in the nation — along with the SEC — and, given its profile among the elites and its place in the conference, Ohio State will have a major voice in whatever happens moving forward.