Ohio State AD Gene Smith Thinks FBS CFB Teams Should Operate Separate from NCAA

AP Photo/Jay LaPrete

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith
said FBS college football programs “need different rules”
than the other NCAA sports.

Smith told ESPN’s Heather Dinich on
Tuesday teams competing for the College Football Playoff have a “different commitment” because of the 85 scholarships they can
offer, and it should be treated as such, so he’s been “throwing
ideas out” to his fellow ADs:

“We [can] create our own rules,
create our own governance structure, have our own enforcement, we
have our own requirements, whatever that might be. … 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.”

This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis.

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