Ex-Ohio University Football Coach Sues School Over Firing

The head football coach fired by Ohio University last year amid a relationship with an undergraduate student and claims of drinking in his office is suing the school for wrongful termination.

Following a 8–4 season with a bowl game approaching, Ohio University put first-year coach Brian Smith on leave on Dec. 1 without explaining its reasoning to him or the public. On Dec. 17, the school said it was firing Smith for cause following “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 next day, the school released public records that listed its alleged issues with Smith. Among them: extramarital affairs including with an undergraduate student, having an affair at the campus inn where he was seen by a player’s parent, drinking alcohol in his office, and appearing intoxicating and smelling “strongly of alcohol” in public.

Smith’s attorney Rex Elliott, said at the time that his client had never been intoxicated at a school event, and that the drinking in his office was for toasting victories with bourbon provided by the university president’s husband. (He also detailed instances of other university staff members drinking in their offices.) Elliott also said Smith was living at the inn while he was going through a divorce,, and his ex-wife “didn’t accuse him of engaging in an extramarital affair.” Their divorce was finalized in December. The attorney also noted that school rules didn’t forbid the coach from having a consensual relationship with the undergraduate.

The school fired him anyway, saying it still had “ample cause” to do so.

Smith’s 29-page lawsuit filed on Friday in Ohio’s Court of Claims says the school did so “knowing that the allegations were disputed and unproven.”

“The University rushed to judgment, ignored its contractual obligations, and prioritized its financial interest over a fair process,” Elliott said in a statement on Friday. “OU’s actions have irreparably harmed Coach Smith’s coaching career, and he is owed the full balance of his contractually agreed-upon compensation.”

He had about $2.5 million left on his deal, which ran through the 2029 season.

A spokesperson for Ohio University doubled down that Smith’s firing for cause was “based on violations of the established terms within his employment agreement.”

“This lawsuit is unfounded, and the University will strongly defend itself in court,” the spokesperson said. “Consistent with its longstanding practice, the University declines to comment further on pending litigation.”

The suit claims Smith was improperly put on leave in the first place, because he had not committed any more violations following a written reprimand about alcohol on Nov. 25, which had specified that only future violations could issue more discipline.

Smith had an annual base salary of $615,000 with $135,000 of “supplemental compensation” and $100,000 in retention bonuses, plus he was up for performance incentives. Reaching a bowl game was one of those incentives.

“The University materially breached the Agreement by terminating Plaintiff ‘for cause’ without a good-faith investigation or substantiating any grounds for cause,” the suit says.