College Football’s black excellence: The first Power 5 Athletic Directors

Gene Smith was one of the first black Athletic Directors in the Power Five when he was hired by Iowa State in 1993

Current Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith is one of the most highly regarded athletic administrators in the country. Smith leads one of the marquee athletic programs in the country. The Buckeyes are the Big Ten standard and one of the elite programs in all of college football. Smith is also one of the longest-tenured black Athletic Directors in the country as well.

Before Smith began his career in higher education administration, Smith was making history. A Notre Dame graduate, Smith won a National title in 1973 and again in 1977 as one of the first black assistant coaches of a Power Five school at Notre Dame. Smith began his career as an AD at Eastern Michigan University in 1986, where he served for seven years. After stops at Iowa State and Arizona State, Smith became the eighth Athletic Director at Ohio State in 2005.

Smith oversees one of the elite athletic departments in the country. The Buckeyes have an annual budget of 300 million dollars, and the football program has a valuation of 1.5 billion dollars. Since Smith took over at Ohio State, the Buckeyes have won 11 Big Ten titles, including eight outright championships. The Buckeyes shared titles with Penn State (2005 & 2008) and Michigan State and Wisconsin (2010).

The Buckeyes have played for four National Titles during Smith’s tenure, winning in 2014. Ohio State won at least 10 games while Smith has been AD 14 of 16 seasons losing more than two games twice. The Buckeyes were a great program; Smith made them that much better.