Gene Smith would be promoted to vice president of Ohio State University while remaining athletic director through 2020, under a proposed contract extension that the university board of trustees plans to vote on later this week.
Under the deal, Smith would be paid $940,484 a year in base salary, an increase of about $100,000, retroactive to July of last year. He also would be eligible for merit-based raises. His current contract was set to expire in mid-2016.
In his new role, Smith will have broader control over the business side of university sports and entertainment venues. He will have joint oversight of the Office of Business and Finance in OSU’s Business Advancement Division, which includes the Jerome Schottenstein Center, the Blackwell Inn, Drake Union, the Fawcett Center and the Office of Trademark and Licensing Services.
He also will be responsible for an agreement with Nationwide Arena to bolster revenue and find new opportunities to work together with the university.
“Gene Smith is one of this country’s most accomplished collegiate athletics directors, with an exemplary record of national leadership and service,” interim OSU President Joseph A. Alutto said in a statement today.
“Thanks to his dedication to student success, graduation success rates of Ohio State’s student-athletes have risen by 11 percentage points, to 89 percent. His vision and commitment to excellence have made Ohio State’s Department of Athletics one of the strongest in the nation.”
Since being hired as the university athletic director in 2005, Smith has seen successes including 10 national championships for team sports and 60 individual national championships. OSU has produced 22 Olympians under his tenure.
The football team has participated in six BCS bowl games and two national championships since Smith took over. The men’s basketball team has made it to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament three times and twice to the Final Four.
But he has weathered controversy, too. His oversight ultimately was deemed “insufficient” by university leaders after the tattoo scandal that led to the ouster of football coach Jim Tressel and banned the football team from a bowl game.
Recently, he has seen the Buckeye football team steamroll through two seasons before losing two key games and a national championship berth. The Buckeye basketball team dropped from its No. 1 national ranking after a stretch of wins.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to lead the athletics program at a university with a national reputation for excellence that encompasses a broad-range of areas,” Smith said in a statement. “Working with the coaches, athletics staff, faculty and staff across the university enables us to provide positive experiences for the young people we serve, while finding ways to help them become global citizens impacting the world.”
