Click on the title for a link to part of Phil Knight's interview with the Register-Guard about the Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene
On the replacement of Oregon Track coach Martin Smith:
Said Knight: “One, I did not fire Martin Smith. Every story that’s been written, from the Medford Mail-Tribune to the Salem Statesman, even now, when Martin Smith won the Big 12 track meet, it was Martin Smith was the coach who was fired by Phil Knight. They always refer it that way.
“If I had died the year before (Smith resigned), which I’m glad I didn’t, he still would have been terminated under the same circumstances and probably on exactly the same day. It was basically between the university and Martin Smith, and (then athletic director) Bill Moos and Martin Smith. It wasn’t my deal.”
