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'I just went berserk.' Retiring AD Gene Smith splurges with budget to win football title

Bill Rabinowitz, Columbus Dispatch
·2 min read

Gene Smith is retiring as Ohio State athletic director at the end of June, and he wants this year’s Buckeye football team to be a part of his legacy.

If going “berserk” with the budget is the cost of that, so be it.

April 13, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Retiring Ohio State University athletic director Gene Smith speaks to the Columbus Dispatch before the LifeSports spring football bame.
April 13, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Retiring Ohio State University athletic director Gene Smith speaks to the Columbus Dispatch before the LifeSports spring football bame.

That’s why he approved expenditures that successor Ross Bjork will have to manage. In part because of the hiring of Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator, OSU’s assistant coach salary payroll will be $11.425 million in 2024, an increase of 22.5% over last year.

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“I probably put a significant burden on Ross with the budget because I was playing poker with football and went all in,” Smith said Thursday afternoon.

Ohio State hasn’t won a Big Ten title since 2020. Seeing Michigan win the conference title the last three years after beating the Buckeyes in the regular-season finale added to Smith’s hunger.

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“With where we are with football and not winning Big Ten championships, we wanted to make sure that we did everything we could to make sure football has a real chance next year,” Smith said. “So when I think about my legacy, so to speak, I think about that. I hate to leave Ohio State when football is not back to winning Big Ten championships.”

Kelly will make $2 million. Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles will make $2.2 million. Clemson, in 2020, is the only other public FBS program to have two assistant coaches making at least $2 million.

Ohio State generated almost $280 million in revenue in the most recent fiscal year.

“I put a financial burden on Ross now,” Smith said. “He's got to balance the budget in the future because I just went berserk.”

Dispatch reporter Joey Kaufman contributed to this story.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State AD 'went berserk' with budget to win football title