Only two days before the start of the College Football Playoff, another head-coaching job in the sport has come open.
Ohio terminated the contract of first-year head coach Brian Smith for cause, the university announced on Wednesday, Dec. 17.
The move came after an administrative review of allegations that Smith had “violated the terms of his employment agreement by engaging in serious professional misconduct and participating in activities that reflect unfavorably on the University.”
Smith had been placed on administrative leave two weeks earlier for an ‘undetermined period of time.” The school did not specify a reason for the decision.
Rex Elliott, Smith’s attorney, said in a statement on Wednesday that he and Smith ‘vigorously dispute’ Ohio’s grounds for termination for cause and that they will fight the move.
‘He (Smith) is shocked and dismayed by this turn of events, and we plan to fight this wrongful termination to protect his good name,’ Elliott said in the statement. ‘Coach Smith is an ethical man who has done an exemplary job for the University. He wants nothing but the best for the players, coaches, and the entire Bobcat community.’
The 45-year-old Smith had been at Ohio since 2022 and was elevated to head coach after the 2024 season, when then-Bobcats coach Tim Albin left for the same position at Charlotte. Ohio went 8-4 in its lone season under Smith and made the Frisco Bowl, where it will take on UNLV on Dec. 23. John Hauser, who was named the Bobcats’ interim head coach when Smith was placed on leave, will coach the team in that game.
The university said a coach for a permanent replacement will begin immediately.
Earlier this season, Smith had been part of one of the more unusual arrangements in the sport, as he was essentially working without a contract as recently as early October, as USA TODAY reported.
Smith had signed a document with Ohio officials when he was promoted to head coach after Albin’s departure. The document — which was a term sheet, not a formal contract — said Smith’s compensation would have an average annual value of $850,000 per year from Dec. 17, 2024, through Dec. 31, 2029, but it did not say what Smith was to be paid for that, or any other year of his employment. The document also said Smith would have performance incentives, but that they “will be negotiated between the parties, the terms of which will be comparable with other Mid-American Conference institutions.”
In an email to USA TODAY Sports in October, Ohio spokesman Dan Pittman said that “While a contract would typically be finalized ahead of a head coach announcement, Coach Smith’s longstanding relationship with the University and his commitment to leading the (Ohio) football program made it possible to move forward in this unique case while working under the guidance of the term sheet.”
On Oct. 10, one day after USA TODAY Sports reported on Smith’s unique employment situation, Smith had a formal, fully executed agreement with the university. The deal ran through the 2029 season.
