Ohio State AD trolls Michigan football over Florida practices
By Jason Parker
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith didn’t hold back with his thoughts about rival Michigan holding football practices in Florida.
As the calendar turned to March, college football programs across the country began to hold spring practices. One of the most publicized ones took place over a thousand miles away from the school’s main campus, as the Michigan Wolverines held their first week of drills at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
It was a move that was met with hesitation from some (namely the SEC and its member schools) and others who applauded the “thinking outside the box” approach from the team and head coach Jim Harbaugh. Since then, other schools have said they would be interested in doing something similar.
At the same time, others plan on sticking to the norm and not leaving campus for spring practice at any point. One of those people is the athletic director at Michigan’s biggest rival, Ohio State’s Gene Smith.
When asked about a possible road trip for the Buckeyes, Smith threw plenty of shade at the Wolverines:
Ohio State AD Gene Smith on holding spring practice in Florida: "If we were jump starting our program, I'd probably try to do that too."
— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) March 22, 2016
Smith has no problem taking a shot at the Wolverines, since Ohio State has won 13 of the last 15 games played between the schools. Smith must have had a talk with his head coach, Urban Meyer. The Ohio State sideline boss had said earlier this month he would be open to the idea, but at a press conference Tuesday said he wouldn’t want to “take Spring Break” away from his players.
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