Ohio Bobcats coach Brian Smith is working the present this season, however he hasn’t signed a proper head-coach contract. Ohio College promoted Brian Smith from offensive coordinator to everlasting head coach in December 2024, following Tim Albin’s departure, and shops reported that the varsity meant to present him a multi-year deal.
USA TODAY reported this week that Smith is successfully working with no signed contract for now, a growth that landed squarely within the nationwide sports activities dialog.
That scenario appears odd subsequent to Ohio’s latest success. The Bobcats gained the 2024 MAC title and an FBS-leading streak of bowl wins, and Smith guided this system into 2025 because the official head coach.
However Smith’s first few video games on the helm have been a combined bag; Ohio sits at 3-3. A type of losses got here in opposition to in-state powerhouse Ohio State, a 37–9 defeat in Columbus that reminded everybody simply how massive the hole nonetheless is between the MAC and Large Ten. Nonetheless, Smith’s squad held its personal early, displaying flashes of the bodily protection and inventive offense that made them a troublesome out final season.
So why is the paperwork nonetheless unsettled? Nicely, Ohio’s athletic director, Julie Cromer, departed for a senior function at LSU in August, and the college launched a nationwide seek for a substitute. Administrative turnover can gradual contract approvals, budgeting, and trustee sign-offs, the identical steps that lock a deal in ink. Officers didn’t supply a public timeline.
Virtually talking, the dearth of a signed contract largely impacts the authorized and monetary facet of this system. A proper deal spells out wage, incentives, and buyout language that protects each coach and faculty. Till these clauses are finalized, either side preserve choices open.
This is not the one such case in school soccer; fellow MAC Faculty Central Michigan’s coach Matt Drinkall can also be engaged on a ‘letter of settlement’, which has no particulars about incentives or retention.
However that does not imply Smith is not getting paid. In accordance with USA TODAY, his base wage was $615,000 per yr, from Dec 17, 2024, onwards.
Ohio has already moved ahead with its management search and employed a brand new athletic director, Slade Larscheid, who arrives with the authority to finalize main agreements. Count on incoming management to both formalize Smith’s deal or reset negotiations, relying on long-term imaginative and prescient and price range priorities. Till then, Smith will preserve teaching below casual phrases that give either side flexibility. Count on an announcement quickly as soon as the athletic management indicators off on the phrases.