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Ohio State AD Gene Smith suggest CFB operate under College Football Playoff rather than NCAA
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In the ever-changing world of college athletics, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith has some ideas on how college football can operate in a more effective and efficient manner. He spoke with ESPN’s Heather Dinich while in Arizona for the B1G spring meetings.
One idea Smith suggests is that the sport work under the umbrella of the College Football Playoff rather than the NCAA. He believes the organization can continue host championships and tournaments for the other sports.
“We [can] create our own rules, create our own governance structure, have our own enforcement, we have our own requirements, whatever that might be,” Smith told ESPN. ” … That might be in the medical space, for example, if a student-athlete is injured and hurt in his or her senior year. You take care of them when they’re done until they’re healed. And we have the funding in place to do that.
“You don’t touch anything else with the NCAA. You keep the academic requirements in place. The reality is, those schools who offer 85 scholarships in football have made a different commitment and that needs to be addressed.”
Smith acknowledged that he’s mentioned this idea to colleagues and peers across the sport. The thoughts have received mixed reviews.
With the transfer portal and NIL changing the landscape of the sport, there will likely be more changes coming. College Football Playoff expansion has been a topic of conversation recently, though that’s been tabled for a later date.
Right now, no permanent changes have been implemented regarding the governance of college football. Smith is tossing out ideas, which is a great starting point.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB