COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Maryland’s new athletic director certainly understands the job description in 2025.
“We’re going to focus on revenue, because make no mistake about it, to compete with the caliber of schools, not just in the Big Ten but across the country, we must increase our revenues,” Jim Smith said while being formally introduced Thursday. “We’re going to be trying a few new things — I’m not going to tell anyone any of them today — taking new approaches, applying what I’ve learned from professional leagues.”
Maryland hired Smith last week, wrapping up a fairly turbulent couple months for the athletic department. In March, athletic director Damon Evans left for SMU, and around the same time, men’s basketball coach Kevin Willard departed to take the Villanova job. The Terps quickly hired Buzz Williams away from Texas A&M to replace Willard.
Smith arrives from baseball’s Atlanta Braves, where he was the senior vice president of business strategy. He’s also been president and CEO of the Ohio State University Alumni Association, and he’s held senior executive positions at Arthur M. Blank Sports & Entertainment, in charge of revenue and marketing for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United.
“I think you can see his vision is next level, outside the box,” Maryland women’s basketball coach Brenda Frese said. “It’s a unique hire that in these changing times I think is much warrented.”
Smith’s challenge is to help Maryland compete — both on the field and in the athletic department’s coffers — with schools like Michigan and Ohio State. He said when he started with the Falcons they were near the bottom of the NFL in revenue.
“If you’re committed and you’re focused to the goals, you will achieve. That’s what we slowly did in Atlanta,” Smith said. “There’s no silver bullets from going towards the bottom of the Big Ten to the top of the Big Ten, from a revenue (standpoint). But there’s a lot of opportunity here.”
As college sports enter a new era expected to involve revenue sharing with players, the ability to bring in money can feel like an existential issue.
“I think if you were to say four years ago, this job is different and I’m not the candidate,” Smith said. “I think it’s just evolved to the point today where it requires someone who understands how a campus operates and can bring in different experience on how to generate additional revenue.”
Maryland has won national titles in both men’s and women’s basketball in the last quarter-century, and the men’s lacrosse team is playing in the Final Four this weekend. But football — and even basketball at times — have struggled to compete for fan attention in an area with plenty of pro teams.
“We’re going to focus on filling SECU Stadium and Xfinity Center with Terp fans, and we’re going to give the best fan experience in the country,” Smith said.
Willard complained openly about the level of support he received from the athletic department before he left, and coach Mike Locksley’s football team finished 4-8 last season — although he has local quarterback recruit Malik Washington now.
“Coach Locks and I have talked a lot about where we are as a program. I think he feels really good with the recruits that we’ve brought in,” Smith said. “Part of it is our responsibility, to make sure that he’s got the funding that’s necessary to compete at the level with the other Big Ten programs.”
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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
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