Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith and former wide receiver Parris Campbell talk before the game against Penn State Nov. 23, 2019. Ohio State won 28-17. Credit: Cori Wade | Lantern File
From the “Game of the Century” to the one he called, “hell” to winning with a third-string quarterback or Dwayne Haskins spoiling Michigan’s “revenge tour,” Gene Smith remembers every iteration of The Games.
But one memory he’ll never let go of is the grass.
In 2006 — Smith’s second rivalry football game against the Wolverines and first in Columbus — No. 1 Ohio State left Ohio Stadium victorious after defeating No. 2 Michigan 42-39, led by Heisman-winning quarterback Troy Smith’s 316 yards and four touchdowns.
Gene Smith said Troy Smith’s performance was “phenomenal” and it was an “unbelievable experience,” but the first thing he recalled from that game was a fan taking home part of the Buckeye field, with likely intentions of planting it in his backyard.
“I remember being on the field after the game, there was some guy running off the field with grass in his pocket,” the Ohio State athletic director said.
Gene Smith grew up in Cleveland, Ohio — an area where many athletes have hailed from, like LeBron James and Jesse Owens. At Ohio State, Gene Smith is as legendary as it gets.
Now in his 19th year at Ohio State — his tenure began in April 2005 — and 34th overall in the collegiate athletic director role, Gene Smith has been privy to 17 rivalry games (14-3), one canceled contest in 2020 and four head coaches.
“They’ve [Gene Smith and his wife, Sheila] poured their heart and soul into Ohio State athletics and just the university in general,” head coach Ryan Day said. “What I owe and my family owes him, I can’t even really verbalize — [the] opportunity to be a first-time head coach at Ohio State, and he trusted in me, and our relationship is gonna go on forever.”
On Aug. 9, Gene Smith announced this would be his last year at the helm of Ohio State athletics as he plans to retire in June 2024, meaning Nov. 25 will be his final Ohio State-Michigan football game as athletic director.
Gene Smith said growing up in Cleveland, he was familiar with the rivalry but had never been to The Game. Naturally, he was in for an intense treat in 2005 when the Buckeyes traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan, ultimately taking the game 25-21.
The Lantern sports editors Lauryn Luderman and Jayla Vanhorn sat down with Gene Smith Sept. 28 to discuss his personal rivalry experiences.
What was your first Ohio State-Michigan experience like?
Nov. 19, 2005, at Michigan Stadium. Ohio State won 25-21.
“I had people telling me about it, but no, my first experience was being there,” Gene Smith said. “I had been in the Big House. When I went to Notre Dame I played against them, coached against them, so I knew what the Big House was like, but I hadn’t experienced the Ohio State experience.”
What do you remember from “The Game of the Century” and Troy Smith’s Heisman run?
Nov. 18, 2006, at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State won 42-39.
“Certainly Troy, he was phenomenal. He was really a great performer and Ted Ginn, Brian Robiskie, Roy Hall and Anthony Gonzalez, I mean it was an unbelievable experience. Beanie Wells,” Gene Smith said. “There were so many different parts of that game, but I tend to think about the individual players and not necessarily the plays. But there was a lot of moments in that game that were so exciting and, but also the fan part.”
Smith said although the fans rushing the field was fun to see, he had the duty of making sure they stayed safe jumping the wall and refrained from climbing the goal posts.
“It was so funny. People were literally cutting big swatches out, trying to carry it out, I was like, ‘This is so cute.’ I’m sure that grass is planted in somebody’s yard somewhere.”
Snapped win streak, Tressel fired. What do you remember from the 2011 game?
Nov. 26, 2011, at Michigan Stadium. Michigan won 40-34.
“Not a lot. All I know is we lost it,” Gene Smith said. “You know, at that point, I had already shifted my thought process to trying to secure our replacement. I don’t remember much about that game, I really don’t. I just remember what I had to do the next morning. And, so, I had already shifted to what I had to do to take care of Luke [Fickell] and the staff, but also move on and get the next leader in here.”
Two days following The Game, Urban Meyer was hired as Ohio State’s next coach. Meyer went 7-0 against the Wolverines as Ohio State’s head coach.
What do you remember from the 2014 game when J.T. Barrett went down and Cardale Jones stepped in as the third-string quarterback?
Nov. 29, 2014, in Ohio Stadium. Ohio State won 42-28.
“I went to see [Barrett]. So I didn’t see Cardale get going, and so I knew he was going to be the guy because I know that, but I went straight to J.T., was in the room with him,” Gene Smith said. “Then when he kind of got comfortable to a point where I felt like he could go and watch the game — we have a TV in there, he could watch it on TV but — the training room is, you got the student section down here and the tunnel’s right here. The training room is right by the locker room, so he could come out of the training room and sit in that corner and watch the game. So, I went out with him. I went first and got some ushers to protect him and then I brought him out. Then I went out and watched the game from the sideline. By that time, Cardale had already, I don’t know how many plays that he had been in, but I had confidence in him; he was an outstanding player.”
Led by Jones, Ohio State went on to win the first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship.
How did you support the team after their win, but loss of their quarterback?
“I don’t talk,” Gene Smith said. “I’m in the room, but I don’t talk. But I hug them as they come in. I hugged Cardale, I hugged other guys that came into the room, Joey Bosa — so I just, that’s what I do. I stay out of the way. And that’s kind of what I do. So I didn’t have a message for Cardale or the team. It was more just being there. And my presence means something to them.”
What do you remember about Dwayne Haskins putting an end to Michigan’s 2018 “Revenge Tour?”
Nov. 24, 2018, in Columbus. Ohio State won 62-39.
“Besides his athletic talent, he had a confidence about him that was really kind of special. He wasn’t a quiet guy, but kinda quiet — he had a kinda quiet confidence. You look at all of his games you can see it, you can really see it. He commanded the offense, exceptionally talented, but he had a command of the offense. I thought that was really special,” Gene Smith said. “He just — at our level, I mean he was a beast. Not just against the team up north, but a lot of games.”
Aside from Haskins ruining Michigan’s season, Parris Cambell’s 78-yard run up the sideline was one of Gene Smith’s greatest memories from 2018.
“I remember Parris [Campbell]. I remember that sweep run he had, he was running up the sideline,” Gene Smith said. “They all had angles on him and he just said “pshh” and then so usually when you get an angle on somebody, you’re gonna catch him, but they couldn’t get that angle. I remember we were — we were so good. And what has happened over time, they just didn’t have the talent to be with us, they really didn’t, but they’ve changed that.”
After The Game was canceled in 2020 and Ohio State lost in 2021 and 2022, what were those conversations like?
Nov. 27, 2021, in Ann Arbor. Michigan won 42-27.
Nov. 26, 2022, in Columbus. Michigan won 45-23.
“My conversations are more with Ryan Day on Sunday after a game like that. You know, talking to him about certain things that happen in a game and then consoling him because he and his family go through Buckeye Nation. Part of Buckeye Nation is venomous,” Gene Smith said. “My whole thing is about consoling and being there for him. You still got to win our next opportunity. Even though we lost to them, people forget we were in the CFP, so we gotta get ourselves off the ground. It’s the greatest thing about well, anybody in life, but certainly around athletics, when you get back down you gotta get right back up. So my whole deal is to be sensitive, consoling, okay and inspire. You gotta get back up. Now this year, we gotta get ‘em.”
Once you’re retired, will you continue to attend The Game and Ohio State games, in general?
“It’ll still be a part of my retirement life when it ended up there instead of here. Next year when it’s here I’m gonna come back, but I’ll be a fan in the stands drinking beers, yelling at the officials,” Gene Smith said.
Gene Smith said he looks forward to his final rivalry game as athletic director — albeit in Ann Arbor — and that it’s always been “Ohio against the world.”
And for curiosity’s sake, yes, Smith owns 14 pairs of gold pants that get dispersed to his wife and kids.
He’s hoping for one final pair come Nov. 25.
