Ohio says Brian Smith’s affair with student and alcohol use led to firing as football coach | College football

Brian Smith was fired as Ohio University head football coach for multiple violations of his contract, including an extramarital affair with an undergraduate student, according to documents obtained Thursday by The Associated Press through a public records request.

The university said Wednesday that it terminated Smith’s contract for cause following an administrative review that found him “committing serious professional misconduct and engaging in activities that adversely impact” the school. He did not provide details at the time.

The details were included in a copy of the school’s notice of intent to terminate obtained by the AP. The records also included Smith’s attorney’s response to the school.

University President Lori Stewart Gonzalez sent Smith and his attorney, Rex Elliott, the notice of intent to terminate Smith’s contract on Dec. 12. Smith was placed on indefinite leave on December 1.

Reasons cited in the notice included “participation in extramarital affairs” and “alcohol-related conduct,” including attending a public event in which Smith smelled strongly of alcohol and “was intoxicated in your behavior,” records show.

The school said the extramarital affairs were grounds for termination because they brought the coach into “public disrepute, contempt, scandal or ridicule.”

Elliott responded to Gonzalez on December 16 that “divorce proceedings were well underway before he began dating anyone. Coach Smith did not hide the relationship, and even his now ex-wife did not accuse him of engaging in an extramarital affair.” Smith and his ex-wife split earlier this year.

The attorney’s response says Smith did not know the woman was a college student at the time they met at an Athens college and had dated for nearly four months. The student was also not a staff member of the football program or athletic department, according to the attorney.

“No one at OU expressed any concerns or opinions about who was allowed to date Coach Smith, but he nonetheless ended the relationship in early November,” Elliott wrote.

The attorney also disputed the assertion that an affair was taking place at a campus hostel because Smith was living there at the time while looking for another home after his divorce.

Elliott argued that the school had no written policy preventing any employee from dating a student and that “this was a perfectly appropriate consensual adult relationship that did not violate any OU rules or policies.”

The school’s letter also said Smith was reprimanded for “repeated consumption of alcohol in your office.”

Smith’s attorney said the reprimand was related to coaches toasting to victory in Smith’s office after home victories. Elliott said the bourbon was provided by Gonzalez’s husband and that “having a single drink to toast a victory with his team is far from justifying a ‘for cause’ termination.”

Elliott said in a statement Wednesday evening that: “We vigorously dispute the reasons given by Ohio University for the just cause termination of coach Brian Smith. »

But Elliott noted in his letter to Gonzalez that they were willing to avoid a public battle and work toward a mutual departure that would “protect Coach Smith from undue harm as well as the University.”

Smith, 45, was named head coach on Dec. 18, 2024, after Tim Albin left to coach in Charlotte. Smith came to Ohio as running backs coach and passing game coordinator in 2022, then was promoted to associate head coach in 2023 and offensive coordinator in 2024.

The Bobcats went 9-4 under Smith, including a win in last year’s Cure Bowl over Jacksonville State and a 17-10 victory over West Virginia this season.

Defensive coordinator John Hauser will serve as interim coordinator for the Dec. 23 Frisco Bowl against UNLV. The search for a permanent coach is underway.