ANN ARBOR — Gene Smith caught Jim Harbaugh’s attention Tuesday. And Ohio State’s athletic director insists he wasn’t trying to start a fight. Speaking with reporters in Columbus, Smith was asked about Michigan’s spring break trip to Florida earlier this month. Ohio State’s AD explained while he believed the idea was creative, he didn’t feel it was necessary for the Buckeyes’ program — stating that “if we were jumpstarting our program I’d probably try and do that, too.” On Wednesday morning, after Harbaugh’s much-discussed Twitter response, Smith offered up an apology. STATEMENT: My comments at a soccer press conference yesterday were not meant to discredit our rival. I apologize to …MORE>>>1/2 — gene smith (@OSU_AD) March 23, 2016 …UM student-athletes & my good friend Warde Manuel. We at OSU look forward to continuing the greatest rivalry in collegiate football.2/2 — gene smith (@OSU_AD) March 23, 2016 Hours after Smith’s first comments surfaced, Michigan’s head coach took to Twitter to send a response. Obviously, he took the quote as something more than basic commentary. Good to see Director Smith being relevant again after the tattoo fiasco. Welcome back! — Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) March 23, 2016 “The tattoo fiasco” is a reference to Ohio State’s 2011 NCAA sanctions that centered around players having a financial arrangement with a tattoo parlor (a parlor that, at the time, was being investigated for drug trafficking). The scandal led to the resignation of former coach Jim Tressel (who was slapped with a five-year show-cause penalty), forced Ohio State to vacate all its wins from 2010 and put the school on probation for three years. …
Continue Reading: Ohio State’s Gene Smith apologizes, says he wasn’t trying to ‘discredit’ Michigan
