A student filed a sexual misconduct complaint against Ohio University’s former football coach before his firing

By: Thomas Billington
Posted on: Tuesday, June 23, 2026

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – A student filed a sexual misconduct complaint against the former Ohio University head football coach shortly before he was fired late last year.

This complaint is referenced in the university’s response to a lawsuit brought by the former coach alleging he was wrongfully terminated.

The university says it sent a notice of the complaint to head coach Brian Smith on Dec. 12. On the same day, Smith also received a letter from university President Lori Stewart Gonzalez saying she intended to fire him. These two letters came just two weeks after he was placed on leave Dec. 1. He was fired Dec. 17.

The university told Smith that one of the reasons for his firing was an extramarital affair with an undergraduate student. Smith’s lawyer told WOUB the sexual misconduct complaint was filed by this student.

Smith references a complaint filed against him in his lawsuit against the university but doesn’t describe the nature of the complaint. He accuses the university of not conducting a proper investigation into the complaint before firing him.

The university says the complaint was dismissed at the request of Smith’s lawyer after Smith was fired. The lawyer argued the university no longer had the authority to investigate the complaint because Smith was no longer an employee, according to the university.

Smith’s attorney, Rex Elliot, told WOUB that the student who filed the complaint had voluntarily dismissed it. 

In his lawsuit, Smith claims the university has no policy banning relationships between staff and students. The university in its response says “its policies are written instruments which speak for themselves.” The university’s policy on sexual harassment and other sexual misconduct only prohibits an employee-student relationship when the employee is a direct supervisor.

Elliot told WOUB the female student was not under Smith’s direct supervision and did not work in the athletics department.

The university told Smith another reason for his firing was his consumption of alcohol in his office after university football games.

Regarding the post-game drinks, Smith says in his lawsuit: “As one would expect after OU football game wins, assistant coaches would occasionally join Coach Smith in his office to toast the win with a single drink of bourbon.” Smith says the bourbon was a gift from Randy Gonzalez, the university president’s husband. 

The university in its response denies that “one would expect” employees to drink on campus. The response also argues that regardless of who gave him the alcohol, Smith should not have been drinking it on campus.

Smith was given a written reprimand on Nov. 25 for his alcohol consumption on campus. This alone would have been grounds for firing Smith, the university says in its response to the lawsuit, but it “made a discretionary decision not to terminate Plaintiff for this violation.”

However, the university ultimately cited the alcohol consumption in its decision to fire him.