Pete Thamel: OSU BOT to meet Wednesday at 9 AM to discuss Urban Meyer

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This is the 24 hour notice OSU is required to give before this meeting can occur. Seems like we might have another Friday afternoon news dump by OSU to wrap up this saga.

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BluestBlue1

August 20th, 2018 at 2:39 PM ^

Interesting that the investigation was supposed to be wrapped up yesterday.  I figured they would suspend him a game to save face, but nothing else.  Either the BOT is needed to spin the slap on the wrist or no slap at all, or maybe he is in trouble.  That would surprise me.

Joined: 08/17/2018

MGoPoints: 5

RobM_24

August 20th, 2018 at 2:41 PM ^

Thamel is wrong. We've already received concrete information from a forum poster, who knows a guy, who lives next to Jim Tressel. Thamel does not have ironclad sources like that.

Joined: 01/27/2014

MGoPoints: 63579

UM Fan from Sydney

August 20th, 2018 at 2:41 PM ^

LOL of course. They need more time to think of a way to get out of this and not lose their precious football coach. Winning trumps everything in Columbus.

Joined: 09/17/2015

MGoPoints: 58076

Heywood_Jablome

August 20th, 2018 at 2:53 PM ^

I still maintain he will not be fired, simply due to the fact that Gene Smith knew about this.  So Gene might end up being the one in trouble here.

But as I've said before, the Columbus police being involved here is what will save both of them.  It's hard to pitch the idea of a "coverup" when the authorities have already been contacted and investigated, and determined no charges should be filed.  Unless of course you think the police were involved in protecting Zach Smith, but that's another can of worms, which I doubt the investigative committee could have figured out in just 2 weeks.

If OSU has enough on Meyer to fire him for cause, they'll just let him resign (like Tressel).  But based on his last public statement, he apparently feels he followed proper reporting requirements and has dug his feet in...in which case there is no way OSU will fire him, because they're not paying him $40m.

Joined: 10/24/2015

MGoPoints: 1123

CRISPed in the DIAG

August 20th, 2018 at 3:04 PM ^

I'm too lazy to verify if Meyer has $40m remaining on his contract. If true, there it is.

It is impossible to successfully fire a coach "for cause." And the only way the $40m gets resolved is if the boosters pass the hat. That hat ain't getting passed for any reason outside of losing to TTUN. 

Joined: 11/08/2010

MGoPoints: 47451

Oregon Wolverine

August 20th, 2018 at 3:10 PM ^

Not impossible to fire for cause when:

1. File has been sufficiently papered and there has been progressive warnings and discipline (probably not here);

2. Criminal conviction (not going to happen); or 

3. Ironclad defensible decision when you have all of your ducks in a row (thorough investigation) and a high-powered attorney has given solid advice.  

Each of these keeps you from having a buyout, or at least puts you in a position that you can defend when Meyer's lawyer asks for one.  

Joined: 09/30/2014

MGoPoints: 2628

Mr Miggle

August 20th, 2018 at 4:34 PM ^

Of course they're more common. This is much more likely to end in a buyout than in firing for cause. Meyer's stance will change if the committee brings back enough evidence to fire him for cause. He'll step down and accept a far smaller settlement than he'd accept otherwise. It works to both parties advantage that way and OSU will have saved a lot of money by having an independent investigation. It would be the functional equivalent of firing for cause, as opposed to the deal RR got, for example.

It will be interesting to see what Maryland does along those lines. They paid 2/3 of the money owed the S&C coach. That was before an investigation. It would be expensive to give everyone else that too.

Joined: 10/07/2010

MGoPoints: 47648

HenneGivenSunday

August 20th, 2018 at 3:40 PM ^

I’ll bite, other than Urban saying he reported it, what proof exists for the public today?  My point is, he also said that nothing happened in 2015 and that McMurphy was making the story up.  Could it be true?  Sure.  Should we take it at face value from him based upon his recent lack of honesty?  Not likely.  

Joined: 10/24/2011

MGoPoints: 10983

iMBlue2

August 20th, 2018 at 5:09 PM ^

Maybe they’ve thought of that and the BOT is trying to convince Gene Smith to fall on the grenade and make a statement that Meyer told him about the incidents...I’m betting there’s a lot of CYA going on the past couple of weeks... I’m not convinced that whatever the official findings are will be the actual truth...

Joined: 11/24/2017

MGoPoints: 15871

iMBlue2

August 20th, 2018 at 5:33 PM ^

It’s difficult to say without knowing the specifics of what information was provided to the police in these instances. Being a Law Enforcment Officer I can say that regardless if the victim in this case MS. Smith wanted Zach charged, if the investigating officer believed a crime was committed based on the information gathered then they would be compelled to make an arrest.  It could have already been looked at or stated but there is a very real possibility on the other hand that due some conflicting information and high profile of those involved the investigating officers chose to pursue a warrant and provided the information to a prosecutor and judge.  The judge or prosecutors might have felt there was something going on but didn’t have the necessary evidence to prove it. Perhaps they do now, I’ll wait and see on that.  it’s hard to use the police knew and didn’t charge defense as it’s difficult in this day in age, you are wrong if you don’t act and your wrong if you do, letting a lawyer or judge decide what to do in this situation wouldn’t be far fetched, as long as no one was in imminent danger.

Joined: 11/24/2017

MGoPoints: 15871

dsizzle

August 20th, 2018 at 2:55 PM ^

Part of me wonders if all this build-up is going to leave everyone disappointed on both sides of the argument i.e. a 2 game suspension with absolutely no public discussion about the investigation's findings.

Not sure how you can crescendo past sex toys and dick pics, but if there's anyone who can do it, it's Zach!

Joined: 09/27/2015

MGoPoints: 72