New AD Jim Smith on revenue and fundraising efforts, football program, how his experience applies at Maryland

Ahmed Ghafir
1 day ago
4 min read

Maryland Athletics opened a new chapter on Thursday afternoon after announcing former Atlanta Braves executive Jim Smith as the university's new athletic director. Head coaches Mike Locksley, Sasho Cirovski and Matt Swope, along with former men's basketball head coach Gary Williams and ESPN host Scott Van Pelt, were in attendance as Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti kicked off the press conference, but Jim Smith also took time to address some of the most pressing questions when he officially takes over his new role on July 15:

Smith on addressing revenue, fundraising concerns

“When we go through the process, Maryland's made the commitment to make the full investment of the 20.5 million dollars or so, depending what the judge determines, but into their programs, right? And then we have to figure out how we're going to complement that so we can continue to recruit at the at the highest level. And I think it's a little early to say, hey, I got this vision. I’ve got to get in and spend some time with the coaches and with the administrators in the university to say, hey, how do we want to raise the funds that are necessary to compete at the absolute highest level? So I think in the short answer, there's a good plan in place for the short term and I'm looking to kind of amplify that plan as soon as I get going.”

Why Maryland was attractive to Smith, how his past experience applies to AD

“It's an interesting time in college athletics, right? I think if you were to say, four years ago, this job is different, and I'm not the candidate. I think it's just evolved to the point today where it requires someone who understands how a campus operates and can bring in a different experience on how to generate additional revenue that has been in a lot of different areas. So when I was presented the job description, it was very interesting. And so it made me start thinking about what is the University of Maryland trying to accomplish that everybody else isn’t? And so I entered the process and I learned very quickly that part of the future of this university and its future success is the gentleman sitting next to me. Because you can't have success in athletics without someone who truly believes in athletics. And that's what made it very interesting. So going through the process, I did not know Dr. Pines, but I got to know and I feel very confident that we can accomplish big things together here.”

On what Smith learned from the Braves that can help Maryland

“So the Braves are a championship organization. Winning a World Series, things have to go right. Everything has to be in place. Everything has to be thought about for the moment that you're ready to win that championship and that's an organization that's ready to win championships. So I learned a lot from being in there and then I learned about a lot about how to make a championship organization better, and being a senior leader there, and figuring out how we can continue to improve. Won the World Series in ’21, an incredible experience, but in so consistently competitive over time. And I think that's what we all aspire to working in sports is to be consistently competitive.”

On the football program, Smith’s expectations for Mike Locksley

“So 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 brought in, but also, part of it is it's on our responsibility to make sure he's got the funding that's necessary to compete at the level with the other Big Ten programs. So I'm optimistic about the season that's coming up. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm really looking forward to seeing how we can bring more to the table to make sure Maryland football can be successful.”

On Maryland’s lack of revenue production Smith inherits

“So you look at a lot of factors, you do a lot of analysis. You spend a lot of time understanding the market, the business, what we do, how we price. All of those things are variables in every professional sports team does. And I think my experience when I was with the Atlanta Falcons, when we moved down there, we were at the bottom of the NFL in revenue. I won't say we were - I can't say that we're live streaming – so we were at the we were near the bottom. And what it does is it takes a commitment of focus, just like coaching, if you're committed and you're focused to the goals, you will achieve. And so that's what we slowly did in Atlanta. I'm not going to tell you this is an overnight [fix]. There's no silver bullets from going towards the bottom of the Big Ten to the top of the Big Ten from a revenue but there's a lot of opportunity here and I am really excited to explore the opportunity.”

Pines on how big of a focus rev sharing was in the search

“It was a major focus. What we can't share is the ideas that Jim shared with the search committee and me. Ideas I've never heard of that I think will be significant going forward. But Jim also really wanted this job. He was impressed by our coaches and their success, the 49 championships. He felt that Maryland batted above its average based on its revenue that it had, its operating budget, and he thought that he could really improve that and then get us to bat even greater about our average. So I'm really excited about the ideas and just his enthusiasm for this was a destination for him.”

Smith on how the Atlanta Braves can help Maryland baseball

“So I'm not sure about the compliance rule and what I can and can't do before I get there, but you know coaches, he's been very involved with a number of Braves players. So I know a little bit about his approach to baseball and I'm really excited to be working with them and we'll figure out a way to get the Braves involved.”

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