The finish line is close, but Gene Smith isn’t done just yet
4/19/2024 10:24:00 AM | The People
Smith spent an hour on stage talking collegiate athletics; says “the people are the heart and soul”
COLUMBUS – Gene Smith certainly looked like a man ready for retirement.
The Ohio State athletic director still doesn't quite sound like he's ready for it.
Smith took the stage at the Fawcett Center on Thursday afternoon for an hourlong chat with longtime Ohio State reporter Doug Lesmerises, settling into an armchair with a Block O on the left side of his Hawaiian shirt on top of gray golf pants and a pair of tennis shoes. Behind him was a clear reminder of how close the finish line is for Smith with the Buckeyes, a sign with Celebrating a Legacy in bold next to the number 19 representing the length of his tenure in charge of the department.
But every 15 minutes or so, Smith would catch himself slipping up and acting like he still had that many years ahead of him.
"I haven't done that yet," Smith said before quickly correcting himself. "Wait, there are no more 'yets.' I'm done."
That's not quite true at the moment, and Smith still has a bit more than two months left to help lead the Buckeyes before heading full-time to his grandkids, family and the golf course. Once his question-and-answer session wrapped up, Smith even hinted to the assembled media that he's already deep into plans for one more project involving the Woody Hayes Athletic Center that will occupy plenty of his attention during his penultimate month at Ohio State in May.
No matter what transpires there, Smith won't be around to see that work through for the Buckeyes. From that perspective, then, his legacy as arguably the most influential athletic director in school history and one of the longest-tenured administrators nationally during his 39 years in collegiate sports is already secure.
There were dozens of championships for Smith to reflect on Thursday. He was uniquely able to weigh in on the ever-changing landscape of NCAA rules and regulations given his intimate experience in that area over nearly four decades. And he admitted there was a "little part" of him that wishes he was still young enough to keep putting Ohio State in position to compete while ushering in the next era of governance in college athletics.
But with heir apparent and incoming athletic director Ross Bjork sitting a handful of rows into the audience on his left, Smith reiterated that it was time for him to pass the baton – and that he could do so secure in the belief that he left Ohio State better than he inherited it.
"I'm not leaving because of the issues in front of us," Smith said. "I embrace change. Change is inevitable. You either embrace change or you become irrelevant.
"I want to be in it, but I've got to leave it to the young puppies."
Smith joked that he no longer belongs in that category, but he certainly hasn't broken the habit of framing every new challenge for Ohio State as a matter "we" had to face instead of "them."
Perhaps he'll never make that adjustment, and he could hardly be blamed for it after 19 years wearing scarlet-and-gray shirts like the laidback one he was rocking on Thursday. But he's becoming more aware of his word choices by the hour as the Buckeyes try to make the most of every one they have left with him.
"I was hopeful when I came here that this would be my last job at a place that I love," Smith said. "My approach was always that if you just care about people, you'll find a way.
"The people are the heart and soul. They are all that matter."
He worked tirelessly alongside thousands of them at Ohio State for 19 years, and his resumé might never be matched.
It's nearly complete now, and every few minutes that realization appeared to be sinking in all over again for Gene Smith as a legendary career winds down.
