Ohio University football coach Brian Smith is working without a finalized contract nearly a year after his promotion.
A ‘term sheet’ signed by Smith and the university outlines a potential average salary but is not a binding agreement.
The university and Smith’s representatives are still working to finalize the formal terms of his employment.
For a second consecutive football season, there is a major-college coach who is essentially working without a contract, at least for now.
Ohio University representatives and coach Brian Smith signed a document this past winter, when Smith was promoted to head coach following Tim Albin’s departure to Charlotte. What that document means in terms of Smith’s compensation for this season — and the parties’ contractual commitment — remains unclear, even with Smith entering his 10th month on the job and the Bobcats having completed half of their 2025 regular season schedule.
The document states it is not a contract. And while it says Smith’s compensation will have an average annual value of $850,000 per year from Dec. 17, 2024, through Dec. 31, 2029, it does not say what Smith is to be paid for this, or any other year of his employment. In addition, it says Smith will have performance incentives, but they “will be negotiated between the parties, the terms of which will be comparable with other Mid-American Conference institutions.”
In response to a specific open-records request, the university provided USA TODAY Sports with a document showing Smith’s base salary became $615,000, effective Dec. 17, 2024. Asked in recent weeks to provide more detailed information, a university spokesman cited the document from this past winter, although he added the parties ‘are currently working together to formally finalize the terms of his agreement.’ As a result, USA TODAY Sports determined it could not include any pay information for Smith and Ohio in its new annual college football head coaches’ pay survey, published Wednesday, Oct. 8.
The document’s first paragraph says it is a “term sheet” that “shall outline the material terms of our offer to Brian Smith (‘you’ or ‘Head Coach’), subject to the approval of the President of the University and the negotiation of a formal Employment Agreement (‘Agreement’) with Ohio University for execution at the earliest possible date.”
The last paragraph states: “By signing below, the parties acknowledge the above proposal is a function of negotiations towards a final and binding Agreement with Ohio University intended for execution at the earliest possible date and is contingent upon the approval of the President of the University.”
It is typical for schools that need to make a fast-paced hiring do so by using an agreement short of a full-form contract. However, such agreements generally include language stating they are binding. For example, Central Michigan, another MAC school is still working with coach Matt Drinkall under a “letter of agreement” that leaves details about incentives and an annual retention bonus undetermined.
But the letter of agreement states it is “a fully binding contract, and shall remain valid, enforceable, and fully binding until the Long Form Agreement is fully executed by both parties.”
In late August 2024, with the regular season about to start, Michigan coach Sherrone Moore was among a group of coaches in contractual limbo. On Sept. 11, Michigan announced it had finalized a contract with Moore.
On Oct. 8, Ohio spokesman Dan Pittman wrote in an email to USA TODAY Sports that Ohio’s new athletics director Slade Larscheid, who was hired in early September after then-AD Julie Cromer left in August for a job with LSU, and Smith are “eager to arrive at a final contract as soon as possible and are working through a few final details.”
Pittman added: “While a contract would typically be finalized ahead of a head coach announcement, Coach Smith’s longstanding relationship with the University and his commitment to leading the (Ohio) football program made it possible to move forward in this unique case while working under the guidance of the term sheet.”
According to his biography on Ohio’s athletics website, Smith joined the Bobcats for the 2022 season. He had worked, variously, as their running backs coach, passing game coordinator, associate head coach and offensive coordinator.
Last season, Ohio won the MAC championship game. A day later, Albin took the job with Charlotte. Smith was named interim head on Dec. 9, then full-fledged head coach as the Bobcats prepared for the Cure Bowl, in which they defeated Jacksonville State.
