a statement to The Athletic<\/a> on Wednesday challenging the firing.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2235260164.jpg\")
Head coach Brian Smith of the Ohio Bobcats arrives at Ohio Stadium prior to the game again against the Ohio State Buckeyes on September 13, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio. Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cWe vigorously dispute Ohio University\u2019s grounds for the termination for cause of Coach Brian Smith,\u201d Elliot said. \u201cHe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defensive coordinator John Hauser will continue serving as the interim coach when Ohio takes on UNLV in the Scooter\u2019s Coffee Frisco Bowl on Dec. 23.<\/p>\n
The school will begin a search for a new permanent head coach \u201cimmediately,\u201d per the release.<\/p>\n
Smith had been the Bobcats\u2019 coach since last December, replacing Tim Albin, who spent four years as the head coach at Ohio before departing for Charlotte.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Under Smith, the Bobcats went 9-4, winning eight games this season after emerging victorious in last season\u2019s Cure Bowl over Jacksonville State.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Smith was hired by Ohio as the team\u2019s passing game coordinator and running backs coach in 2022 before working his way up to head coach last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before Ohio, Smith bounced around college football, making stops at Hawaii and Washington State, among other schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In October, Smith formally signed \u201ca five-year deal through 2029 that paid him $815,000 this season,\u201d according to The Athletic, although the contract included \u201ca $50,000 retention payment if he remained head coach of the Bobcats on Dec. 31, 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ohio University coach Brian Smith is out of a job.\u00a0 Following an administrative review, Smith was fired by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,594,596,45587,85],"class_list":["post-354689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-college-football","tag-football","tag-ohio-bobcats","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}