Geiger Retires at Ohio State
By PETE THAMEL
Published: January 6, 2005
ndy Geiger, the Ohio State athletic director, announced his retirement yesterday for what he called "burnout," ending a successful but turbulent 11-year tenure.
"I'm bone weary," the 65-year-old Geiger said at a news conference in Columbus. "It's not the kind of tired that a good night's sleep fixes."
In the past two years, the National Collegiate Athletic Association has investigated the Ohio State athletic department for improprieties in its football and basketball programs. Geiger fired Jim O'Brien, the basketball coach, earlier this year for giving $6,000 to a recruit. The football program is undergoing its second N.C.A.A. investigation related to the former star tailback Maurice Clarett.
Geiger said he was not forced out, but was stepping down because of the stress of running a large athletic department.
"I am not running or hiding, rather I am making a management decision that is best for me and my family," Geiger said. "I have had to deal with a cumulative fatigue and weariness, which inevitably comes with management of a large, very public athletic department."
N.C.A.A. President Myles Brand said in a telephone interview yesterday that it would be "a mistake of the first order" to link Geiger's legacy with the recent problems at Ohio State. Geiger has been involved in college athletics since 1961 and served as the athletic director at Brown, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Stanford and Ohio State.
"Andy Geiger has a long and impressive history in college sports," Brand said. "He's contributed to the success of a number of individual programs, including Ohio State, and to the advancement of intercollegiate athletics as a whole."
Bill Martin, the Michigan athletic director, said in a telephone interview yesterday that Geiger had been strongly considering retirement for the past couple of years.
Martin said that among athletic directors in the Big Ten Conference, Geiger commanded respect. Martin, who served as the president of the United States Olympic Committee, said he would call Geiger to seek advice on U.S.O.C. matters.
"I certainly have all the respect in the world for him," Martin said yesterday in a telephone interview. "He represented all that's good in college sports. His integrity is the highest. If he's the fall guy, so be it. It's the nature of the business that we're in today."
Martin said that Geiger essentially rebuilt the entire athletic department during his 11 years. Geiger oversaw an expansion of Ohio Stadium and new facilities for baseball and basketball.
"Personally, I'm jealous of the job he's done," Martin said. "He's totally rebuilt the facilities at Ohio Sate and set that program up for the next 50 to 100 years."
Whoever succeeds Geiger will inherit problems as well. The men's basketball team is under a self-imposed ban for the postseason and could face further penalties from the N.C.A.A. O'Brien is suing the university for wrongful termination.
The football program's latest problem comes from the suspension of quarterback Troy Smith, who took money from a booster and could face further discipline.
There have been more than a dozen arrests involving football players since Coach Jim Tressel took over in 2001. There are also the lingering problems with Clarett, who alleged last November in an article in ESPN The Magazine that he received preferential academic treatment and worked a no-show job while at Ohio State.
"This is bittersweet," Geiger said. "I find that my work is no longer fun and that I don't look forward with enthusiasm to each day."
