By Matt Baker, Chris Vannini and Justin Williams
Ohio University’s for-cause firing of head football coach Brian Smith stems from a romantic relationship he had with an undergraduate student on campus and an allegation that he was intoxicated during a public appearance, according to documents obtained Thursday through a public records request.
On Dec. 12, the school sent Smith a notice of termination letter, citing five grounds for firing him for cause and voiding any buyout. Included in the first citation was “extramarital affairs, including one with an undergraduate student” that took place at the Ohio University Inn on campus and was seen by a player’s parent.
According to Smith’s employment agreement, the university is required to provide him a written notice of allegations and an opportunity to respond before carrying out a for-cause termination.
In a response dated Dec. 16, Smith’s lawyer, Rex Elliott, wrote to the school that Smith and his wife had already separated and were living apart while divorce proceedings were underway.
“First, Coach Smith didn’t participate in an extramarital affair and you know it,” Elliott wrote to the university’s president. “Coach Smith did not hide the relationship, and even his now ex-wife didn’t accuse him of engaging in an extramarital affair.”
Smith was living at the OU Inn while searching for more permanent housing and ran into a player’s parents while with a 41-year-old woman after already breaking off the four-month, consensual relationship with the student in early November, Elliott wrote. Smith’s lawyer also wrote that OU has no policy preventing an employee from dating a student, especially one that is not a subordinate or part of the athletic department.
The school claimed such a relationship violated his contract by bringing “disrepute, scandal and ridicule” to the university and the athletic department.
The university also said it received a report that Smith “smelled of alcohol” and acted intoxicated in his demeanor during a public appearance that’s a routine part of his job. It did not elaborate on the event. He was previously reprimanded in late November for drinking and storing alcohol in his office, as The Athletic reported Wednesday. During that investigation, Smith claimed he periodically had a single drink of bourbon with assistant coaches after normal business hours.
Elliott’s response letter claims Smith was never inebriated at an Ohio event and that the previous reprimand was not a for-cause reason for termination. Elliott also wrote that the bourbon being toasted in Smith’s office was provided by the husband of the school’s president.
Elliott wrote the “erroneous conclusion” without getting Smith’s full side of the story will “undoubtedly irreparably harm Coach Smith’s career” and that the coach would “vigorously pursue litigation should OU continue down this reckless path.”
The day after the response letter, Smith was fired.
“We vigorously dispute Ohio University’s grounds for the termination for cause of Coach Brian Smith,” Elliott said in a statement Wednesday. “He is shocked and dismayed by this turn of events, and we plan to fight this wrongful termination to protect his good name. 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 Athletic has reached out to Elliott and Ohio University for further comment.
This story will be updated.
