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Gene Smith (Former AD, ‘10 AD of the Year, '13 NAAC Organizational Leadership Award)

I think affirmative action should help cover people with different hair color and eye color. Why stop at skin color? What about the white red heads with green eyes? Who's looking out for them? :sad:

There comes a point where forcing equality does more harm than good.

Either way, I'll say it again, I really doubt if this had a significant factor in his hiring.
 
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Has anyone in a position of authority suggested that affirmitive action was part of the selection criteria? Without knowing the answer, I am quite sure they haven't. Aside from his being black, is there any other basis for this whole discussion on affirmitive action? I suggest the merits of affirmitive action be moved to a general topics thread.

With regard to Smith's qualifications, I certainly understand people's concern given the crap going on at ASU. But like it or not, he is our man now, the decision has been made. In fairness to Gene Smith and tOSU, I suggest we judge him on his performance as tOSU's AD. I'm thinking this hire is probably going to work out just fine. And I truly hope it does.
 
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The Voice of Reason from BuckeyeBill.
Let the man have his day. Let him have a day at least for God sake.

It is sickening enough for non-whites to have to be reminded that they are not good enough even when they are more than good enough to hold a position, without the sad failure known as Affirmative Action being interjected into the selection equation.

I wish these same hateful individuals would ponder the very reason why AA was created by our esteemed (JK) legislature in the first place...hmmm.

Take this info for what you see in it.....
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/affirmative1.html
 
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zincfinger said:
That outburst certainly invites response, but it probably better belongs to the political discussion board at this point.
Yeah. Get your political discussions elsewhere. Let's talk about something else.
Like.. um.. what the hell does an Athletic Director do? Aside from, of course, blowing off allegations regarding MoC.
 
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Yertle said:
He directs athletics. D'uh!
Ohhhhhh.. So THAT's why I saw Geiger always "directing" Tressel? Athletics. That makes sense. I can see it now:

Geiger: Tressel, today, your job is to coach the football team.
Tressel: Wasn't that my job yesterday?
Geiger: Yup. But this time, when someone drops a pass, I want you to make him run some laps.
Tressel: I did that yesterday.
Geiger: Yeah.. but you didn't show the right EMOTION. I need to FEEL what's going on in your mind.
Tressel: What the hell are you talking about? I'm trying to make my team better.
Geiger: MAKE ME FEEL YOUR DESIRE TO WIN!
Tressel: Whatever.
Geiger: I am an awesome director.
 
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Gene's Smith's replacement has been made at Arizona St.

Love becomes first female AD at Arizona State

http://www.sportsline.com/general/story/8413837

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD noWrap>April 23, 2005
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports </TD><TD width=10> </TD><TD align=right><SCRIPT language=JavaScript><!--//var dclkFeaturesponsor='http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/sponsorships.spln.com/fs/stories/'+vTag+';'+vTarget+';'+uID+';sz=234x42;tile=5;ord='+random+'?';if (switchDclk != 'off') { if (location.search.substring(1).indexOf('DCLK')>-1) document.write('<input type="text" value="'+dclkFeaturesponsor+'" style="width:">
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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD width=10> </TD><TD>[font=Arial, Helvetica]<!-- T8413837 --><!-- Sesame Modified: 04/23/2005 23:33:20 --><!-- sversion: 2 $Updated: lylec$ -->TEMPE, Ariz. -- Lisa Love, a former volleyball coach who climbed through the administrative ranks at Southern California, became the first female athletic director in Arizona State history Saturday.

Love, senior associate athletic director at Southern Cal, replaces Gene Smith, who resigned to become athletic director at Ohio State. She signed a five-year contract that includes both academic and athletic performance incentives. Her official title is vice president for university athletics.

"I am committed to making Arizona State University consistently a nationally elite athletics program that just takes names and wins championships," Love said. "I'm all about that. I've enjoyed 15 years at USC. I've enjoyed a mentality of thinking big and dreaming big."

In a statement released by Arizona State, Southern Cal football coach Pete Carroll called Love "a great selection."

"She comes from a great program at USC and she helped build that program," Carroll said. "She really understands the world of coaching and she has played a key role in the success of our program."

[/font]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
 
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Canton Rep

1/24

[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Tressel contract, NCAA on Buckeye AD’s agenda[/FONT]
Tuesday, January 24, 2006 [FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]By Todd Porter
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER
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April will mark Gene Smith’s first year as Ohio State athletics director. Smith spoke at the Hall of Fame Luncheon Club on Monday.

</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> CANTON TWP. - The man who juggles many balls stopped for a few hours. Ohio State Athletics Director Gene Smith, coming up in April on his one-year anniversary on the job, spent about 90 minutes with the Hall of Fame Luncheon Club on Monday at Four Winds restaurant.
As one might expect, there wasn’t a lack of questions for the man in charge of Ohio State’s 35 varsity sports.
Smith has two hot items on his agenda. First, Ohio State will meet with NCAA officials Feb. 3 and 4 to find out if they face further sanctions from nine rules violations that primarily center on the men’s basketball program. After that, Smith and Head Football Coach Jim Tressel will talk about a three-year contract extension due Tressel by March 1, possibly extending the deal longer.
The important news is Smith does not believe Ohio State will face any additional serious sanctions from the NCAA. The only football issue among the nine violations is quarterback Troy Smith’s acceptance of $500 from a booster. However, Smith sat out two games and made restitution as recommended by the NCAA.
“We had a total collaborative effort with the NCAA,” Smith said. “We agree on eight of the nine allegations. We’ll battle on that one a little. I do not believe we’ll face significant sanctions. I believe we’ll be on probation. I do believe we’ll have to pay back money and maybe take some banners down.
“Our battle is to make sure that current and future student-athletes don’t have to pay any sanctions because of what has occurred.”

Former basketball Coach Jim O’Brien filed suit against the school over his firing. His suit may provide the NCAA with additional evidence, which may be one of the reasons the original hearing in December was postponed until February.
Smith isn’t speaking much about Tressel’s contract. He echoed earlier thoughts that he is interested in extending the deal. Tressel’s contract has a March 1 deadline to extend it.
“I will discuss publicly I am interested in trying to extend Jim’s contract,” Smith said. “But the particulars ... are personal between him and me.”
Pressed further afterward, Smith declined to get into details. Is it possible OSU would add three years to the three-year extension in place?
“We haven’t discussed that yet,” Smith said. “(The media) has discussed it more than we have. Jim is recruiting and some point when he gets done, then we’ll talk about it.”
Perhaps, though, Smith has a newer appreciation for Tressel. He spent the entire Fiesta Bowl week in the same hotel as the football team. He attended every practice. He observed Tressel as close as he ever has.
What did he learn?
“Preparation,” Smith said. “I knew he was a great preparer, but being there with him and in the same hotel for a week, seeing it more intimately, that took it to a whole new level.”

While Smith is new to Ohio State, he isn’t new to Ohio. He graduated from Bedford Chanel High School and then Notre Dame in 1977, where he lettered three years at defensive end for the Irish.
He coached on Dan Devine’s staff for four years before moving into administration. Smith spent seven years as the athletics director at Iowa State and Eastern Michigan. OSU hired Smith from Arizona State where he was the athletics director.
Watching his new team beat his alma mater, Notre Dame, must have been difficult.
“It wasn’t tough at all,” Smith said. “I had a great experience at Notre Dame. They taught me a lot. That’s behind me, though. ... I had more challenges and emotions with Arizona State University and the fact that was the last Fiesta Bowl in Sun Devil Stadium.”
Don’t believe him?
He took a a nice jab that brought a near-packed house to a roaring laughter.
The topic of scheduling Notre Dame in the regular season came up. The Buckeyes will play Youngstown State before they play the Irish on the football field in the regular season.
“We’re 3-2 against them. We won; we’re done with them,” Smith said. “We’re going to get someone better. Hey, I went there. I played there. I can say that. I earned that right.”
Next week’s speaker is Ashland University Head Football Coach Lee Owens.
Reach Repository sports writer Todd Porter at (330) 580-8340 or e-mail: [email protected]
 
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Dispatch

4/20

Good sports
Smith’s team tightens reins on OSU athletic programs
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Barnet D . Wolf
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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</td></tr> <tr><td class="credit" width="200"> JEFF HINCKLEY DISPATCH </td></tr> <tr><td class="cutline" width="200">OSU athletics director Gene Smith, foreground, with senior associate directors, from left, Tom Hof, Susan Henderson and Miechelle Willis </td></tr> <tr><td align="center">
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Gene Smith spent a good part of his first year as Ohio State University’s athletics director stamping out fires related to NCAA infractions, legal issues and boosters doling out goodies to athletes.
But Smith also found time to restructure his department to make it more efficient and effective.
"We need to integrate more and more of our development with marketing and our brand management," Smith said. "We were not collaborating across these units adequately."
Now, he said, the program focuses on "best business practices."
Ohio State’s intercollegiate athletics program is the nation’s largest, with 36 sports and a $90 million annual budget.
Many think, as Smith does, that college-sports programs need to operate like a business to pay their own way and not encumber their universities.
"Clearly in an era in which most athletic departments are told to be self-sufficient, they should look more like the way a business is structured," said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon.
OSU’s athletics department earns a profit most years and has built up enough in reserve to cover any annual shortfalls.
Smith’s reorganization plan looks to maintain that financial strength but improve the department’s efficiency. He also has set his sights on evaluating staff better and finding ways to build more support for all OSU sports.
The approach is similar to that fashioned by Smith at Iowa State and Arizona State universities, when he oversaw the athletics programs there.
Smith’s administrative structure is tighter than it had been previously at OSU. It reduces the number of people reporting to him from nine administrators and coaches to four.
Three of them are newly appointed senior associate athletic directors: Susan Henderson, who oversees finances and operation; Tom Hof, external relations; and Miechelle Willis, student services and sports administration. Football coach Jim Tressel also reports directly to Smith.
Although the structure of OSU’s athletics department has been in some ways streamlined, it continues to have roughly the same number of full-time employees, 308, and an annual $28 million payroll.
The restructuring received some attention when announced in February because it shifts Heather Lyke Catalano, the department’s associate athletics director for compliance, to one of three associate athletics directors overseeing specific sports programs.
Catalano was in charge when football running back Maurice Clarett violated NCAA bylaws and during the allegations of wrongdoing by former men’s basketball coach Jim O’Brien, who was fired in 2004, and former assistant Paul Biancardi.
Catalano’s replacement has not been named.
The biggest change in the department’s realignment is in Hof’s area, which puts the divisions of marketing, development, ticketing and communications under his leadership.
Smith said the new structure will allow employees to have their work judged on quantifiable goals, which will be evaluated annually, rather than every few years.
"We want to improve professional development and help our people grow," the athletics director said. "The reality is, it forces communication."
Smith’s predecessor, Andy Geiger, also looked at the department as a business, but he was a builder. During Geiger’s 11-year tenure, OSU spent millions of dollars to build and renovate sports facilities. During that time, he led the push to:
• Renovate Ohio Stadium for more than $200 million.
• Build the Jerome Schottenstein Center for $115 million.
• Build Bill Davis Stadium and Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium and several other sites for more than $15 million.
The department also paid for some athletic facilities in OSU’s new recreation center and underwrote the cost of renovations on the Scarlet Golf Course and other projects, all for a combined $35 million.
As a result, Ohio State may have among the nation’s best university athletic facilities.
But with big projects come big bills, and OSU’s athletics debt stands at nearly $209 million.
The debt, to be paid off by 2031, means Smith’s department must continually watch its costs.
[email protected]
 
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Official Site

Smith Named President of Division I Ads for 2007-08


Oct. 27, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio-Eugene Smith, director of athletics at Ohio State, has been named president of the Division I Athletic Directors' Association.

Smith will serve for the 2007-08 athletics calendar. Ron Wellman of Wake Forest is the current president of the organization.

Along with Smith, the 1st vice president in 2007-08 will be Tim Weiser of Kansas State University along with 2nd vice president Jeremy Foley of the University of Florida.

Smith looks forward to working with his peers.

"It is a pleasure and an honor to serve my colleagues," Smith said. "Having an opportunity to work with Dutch Baughman, our executive director, is special. I look forward to the opportunity."
 
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