Now that he is leaving, ole Gene is giving up some of the down lo on the covid season. The BIG bitched slapped Nebraska back into their place when then AD Bill Moos tried to line up an alternative non-conference schedule after the BIG covid cancellation. However, Gene Smith was the one doing the slapping when O State made similar threats. As I recall, Smith publicly floated that possibility that O State was looking at the possibility of going out of conference for the 2020 but then seemed to quickly retreat from that possibility in the press. But not behind the scenes. Apparently, Ohio State was fully prepared to go nuclear on this. And the BIG blinked. It looks like the face saving in the public RE: new medical information on the risk of myocarditis convincing the BIG presidents to re-instate the season was pure theatre. Smith says this really the only time during his tenure that Ohio State had to wield its big stick.