Ohio University fired football coach Brian Smith for cause on Wednesday, more than two weeks after he was unexpectedly placed on leave by the university.
“The termination follows an administrative review of allegations that Smith violated the terms of his employment agreement by engaging in serious professional misconduct and participating in activities that reflect unfavorably on the University,” the university said in a statement. It did not elaborate on the specifics of the allegations.
“We vigorously dispute Ohio University’s grounds for the termination for cause of Coach Brian Smith,” Smith’s attorney, Rex 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.”
Associate head coach and defensive coordinator John Hauser, who was named the interim coach when Smith was put on leave, will coach the Bobcats against UNLV in the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl on Dec. 23. Ohio said its search for a new head coach will begin immediately.
On the afternoon of Dec. 1, three days after the Bobcats completed an 8-4 regular season in their first year under Smith, Ohio’s athletic department released a brief statement that Smith “will be on leave for an undetermined period of time.”
Ohio University provided no further updates on the matter, and stated that it had no additional information to share in response to multiple requests. Elliott, Smith’s attorney, previously confirmed to The Athletic that the coach was placed on paid leave.
In the wake of Smith being placed on leave on Dec. 1, multiple sources familiar with the coach and the Ohio football program told The Athletic they were surprised at the decision and in the dark as to why it was made. One source noted that some football staffers were notified of the leave less than an hour before the university’s announcement and were given no further details. The program accepted its bowl bid and went through the National Signing Day period for high school recruiting after Smith was placed on leave, signing 20 high school prospects to the 2026 recruiting class.
The Bobcats went 6-2 in the MAC in Smith’s lone season, tied for second place in the conference standings. Ohio failed to clinch a spot in the MAC championship game via tiebreaker. Smith, 45, spent the three previous seasons as an assistant for the Bobcats under Tim Albin, including as the associate head coach and offensive coordinator in 2024. Smith was hired as Ohio’s head coach on Dec. 18, 2024, after Albin left for the head coaching job at Charlotte, and following Ohio’s first conference championship since 1968.
Smith and Ohio agreed to a five-year deal through 2029 that paid him $815,000 this season, though that included a $50,000 retention payment if he remained head coach of the Bobcats on Dec. 31, 2025. Curiously, Smith worked for most of the past year without a finalized contract, which was finally signed in October. Ohio hired athletic director Slade Larscheid in September.
Before joining the Bobcats, Smith worked as an assistant at Washington State and had multiple stints at Hawaii, his alma mater, where he was an offensive lineman and long snapper from 1998 to 2001.
