Ohio State AD Gene Smith talks Buckeyes returning to campus, having fans in stadium and more during conference call

Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith met with reporters on Wednesday afternoon to talk about several topics, mostly pertaining to the 2020 college football season. Most notably, the recent news of Ohio State football players returning to campus on June 8 was a talking point.

While on a virtual call with reporters, Smith was asked about players returning to campus, whether or not fans would be attending games this season, what the 2020 schedule may look like and plenty of other topics. Here are some of the responses Smith provided throughout the conversation on Wednesday:

On Ohio State’s players returning on June 8:

Smith said "we want to crawl before we walk and run" as things gradually open up.

— Bill Rabinowitz (@brdispatch) May 20, 2020

Gene Smith said reopening the Woody Hayes Athletic Center in June would give athletes in the area "the best-protected environment" to work out. Gyms and fitness centers in Ohio are permitted to reopen next week.

— Joey Kaufman (@joeyrkaufman) May 20, 2020

Smith also says Ohio State needs to give final approval for players to workout on campus together.

— Dave Biddle (@davebiddle) May 20, 2020

On whether stadiums will have fans in attendance:

Smith said he is becoming more comfortable with the idea of playing football without fans. Said he still doesn't think it'll come to that. Thinks there can be a way to get some fans in stadiums.

— Bill Rabinowitz (@brdispatch) May 20, 2020

Gene Smith is hopeful that fans can be in the stands for games, but Ohio Stadium would top out at 20,000-22,000 fans.

— Tony Gerdeman (@TonyGerdeman) May 20, 2020

On whether or not the B1G needs all 14 teams to participate to have a season:

Gene Smith is asked if all 14 B1G teams need to be able to play to have a season: "We should be able to find a way to not penalize all of the schools [if one school can't play]."

— Tony Gerdeman (@TonyGerdeman) May 20, 2020

On his confidence level about the season being played:

Gene Smith on his comfort level playing football this year: "I'm not 100 percent comfortable yet. That's one of the things with this process, you constantly get educated. I'm hopeful that I'm going to reach 100 percent comfort, but I'm not there yet."

— billlandis25 (@BillLandis25) May 20, 2020

On the 2020 schedule:

Gene Smith said he believes final decisions on Ohio State's football schedule for the season need to be made by early July.

— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) May 20, 2020

Smith on the idea of flipping sites for the OSU-Oregon game because the Oregon governor seems less inclined to have football this year than DeWine: Said he hasn't discussed it with Oregon AD but isn't inclined to do that.

— Bill Rabinowitz (@brdispatch) May 20, 2020

Smith said he wants to play all 12 games this fall but said as few as 8 would be palatable. "Whatever we can do to give them that chance (to play), I want to give them that chance."

— Bill Rabinowitz (@brdispatch) May 20, 2020