Gordon Gee is either intentionally burning bridges left and right, or he really just does not think before he speaks.
A record of an athletic council meeting in December obtained by The Associated Press depicts the Ohio State president speaking disparagingly about a wide range of targets, including the Southeastern Conference, Notre Dame and Catholics in general.
“The fathers are holy on Sunday, and they’re holy hell on the rest of the week,” Gee said amid laughter during a discussion of why Notre Dame was not invited to join the Big Ten. “You just can’t trust those damn Catholics on a Thursday or a Friday, and so, literally, I can say that.”
He also took a shot at the SEC, the conference he formerly presided over as chancellor of Vanderbilt.
“You tell the SEC when they can learn to read and write, then they can figure out what we’re doing,” Gee said when asked how he would respond to SEC fans poking fun at the fact that the Big Ten now includes 14 schools.
Gee has come under fire for questionable comments in the past, particularly following the firing of former Buckeyes football coach Jim Tressel. He issued a statement to the AP on Thursday apologizing for his most recent remarks.
“The comments I made were just plain wrong, and in no way do they reflect what the university stands for,” he said. “They were a poor attempt at humor and entirely inappropriate.”
Gee’s comments were clearly made in some level of jest, but a man with his history of controversy cannot be so reckless with his words. The last thing Ohio State needs is another scandal.
Photo via Facebook/Gordon Gee
