With all due respect, as names go, Jim Smith doesn’t exude excitement. It doesn’t inherently convey that the person who possesses it is a swashbuckler, an adventurer or someone who colors outside the lines.
Jim Smith is an insurance agent or a pastor or even a county executive. All important, trustworthy jobs to be sure, but not exciting.
As of a few weeks, Jim Smith is now the athletic director at the University of Maryland in College Park. Again, nothing breathtaking, but in that role, this Jim Smith may need to be a miracle worker.
In inheriting the reins from Damon Evans who left for the same job at Southern Methodist in Dallas, Smith’s skills will be put to the test, as he will have to make relevant what has been irrelevant.
Smith will have to rescue what has been a largely moribund program at a time when the world of college athletics is going through the kind of upheaval that demands the incongruous combination of steadiness and panache.
With colleges and universities now able to pay athletes directly while simultaneously negotiating the management of name, image and likeness, today’s athletic director has to be as adept at business as athletics.
Smith’s resume suggests that he is up to the challenge. He comes to Maryland from the Atlanta Braves where he led business operations. He has also worked for Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank in a similar capacity and was CEO of the Ohio State University Alumni Association.
That last gig may be the most important, as the Ohio State athletic operation, one of the most massive in college sports, spent close to $300 million in fiscal year 2024, rolling up a nearly $40 million deficit.
Smith won’t get the chance to roll up numbers like that in either case, but he will have to bring the Terrapin football program closer in line with the Buckeyes, the defending national champions.
Ohio State is, like Maryland, a member of the powerful and pigskin-crazy Big Ten Conference. The similarities end there, however.
In Columbus, football is a religion. At College Park, it’s an afterthought, a speed bump on the way to basketball season.
Indeed, there are many who believe that in pursuit of upgrading the middling football program, Maryland lost men’s basketball coach Kevin Willard.
Willard, who engineered one of the most promising seasons in recent history split for Villanova, where hoops are king. Willard decried an emphasis on football, though he had issues keeping his story for why he was leaving straight.
At any rate, among other things, Smith’s going to have to decide whether coach Kevin Locksley is the man to run the football program and how much emphasis to place on it.
So maybe Jim Smith’s not be the most exciting name, but if he gets the job done, who cares? And what’s in a name anyway. I mean, the name Clark Kent might not ring any bells, but he’s done pretty well for himself, hasn’t he?
And that’s how I see it for this week. You can reach us via email with your questions and comments at Sports at Large at gmail.com. And follow me on BlueSky, Threads and X at Sports at Large.
Until next week, for all of us here and for producer Lisa Morgan, I’m Milton Kent. Thanks for listening and enjoy the games.
