Unanswered Questions based on the Investigative Report

On top of that, it's all but certain that Shelley flat out lied to OSU investigators when she said that she didn't tell Urban about the 2015 texts because Shelley thought Courtney Smith was lying about the abuse.

1) She actually called the police in 2015, but didn't tell Urban?

2) Read those texts and tell me Shelley wasn't at least concerned. If not, then she was lying to Courtney at the time. If she really thought Courtney was making it up and was just playing along, shouldn't she at least have warned *Zack*?

3) In 2018, Shelley was concerned that Zack had rage and drinking issues and might be dangerous if fired, but in 2015, she thought Courtney was lying to her? Come on, man.

That isn't how I read his tweet. He feels the "investigation" was unfair to Urban, Gene Smith, and himself. He doesn't feel Urban and Gene Smith did anything wrong. He is protecting them because what else can he do now?

It's been said already in another thread, but I think his tweet is referring to the perception of the investigation as a witch hunt.

Does this remind anyone else of certain other investigation and another "fanbase"? :D

Looking at the report, the investigation actually seems pretty thorough, given it had only two weeks to operate.  It uncovered a fair amount of new material.  My criticism is over the conclusions OSU drew from its findings. I don't know how you can read that report and think Meyer should still have his job.

1)  Why Meyer handled his phone as he did, is the biggest outstanding question for me.  So I agree that it is an issue that is both raised and also inadequately answered by the investigative report.

2)  In Ohio (if you are researching this issue for yourselves), the state law is for "public records requests."  Not "FOIA."  But this point is well-taken, and it only forces more attention on Question #1.  The Ohio State University has a checkered history with public records requests.  The leading case in the state is an OSU case, which OSU substantially lost.

3)  See #1 and #2.

4)  I am going to agree that those are valid questions.  I am not sure how they relate directly to Urban Meyer, although Meyer's contract with OSU gives Meyer a kind of plenary power over football staff hiring and firing.  So yes, it is a good question.

5)  I think this issue has in fact been answered by the Powell Police Chief, and from what I've read on 11W, it seems to be a satisfactory answer.  In any event, the beauty of criminal proceedings is that they get resolved on the record in open court and with a judge under well developed court rules and case law.  I think that the big deal with the Powell P.D. report was that it called into question some erroneous reporting by Brett McMurphy.  I don't think it had much to do with a firing decision re: Zach Smith.  McMurphy has provided zero evidence to suggest any sort of football program influence in it.

6)  Also a good question; ditto Shelley Meyer's phone.

7)  They did a background check on Zach Smith.  And didn't the report state clearly that arrests (with no charge and no conviction) are not flagged?  On this, I am not sure where anybody else stands, but I am extremely uncomfortable with a mere arrest serving as a legal predicate to bar employment.  Because that is what this comes down to.  An arrest, only.  Now; if what is being suggested is something slightly different from a background check, and instead whether there was an OSU employment application apart from a background check, on which Zach Smith was supposed to confess to having been the subject of an arrest and/or a police report in 2009, my answer remains much the same.  I doubt that OSU would ask about any arrests.  To be clear, Jim Harbaugh was arrested in November of 2005, and was subsequently convicted of drunk driving.  Would that have been a bar to his hiring?

++++

The sum and substance seems to be that the really big overarching question is if Urban and Shelley Meyer's phones were somehow scrubbed of relevant evidence.  And I agree that it is a big unanswered issue, whether it is broken down into 1, or 5, or 7 or 22 different questions.

I predict at least 5 more threads on this same topic, just phrased differently over the next week. 

Seconded.

Redirecting the focus is exactly how his story goes away. Not saying that threads on a Michigan board will keep this story in the spotlight, but nevertheless, redirecting energy/focus on this is exactly what OSU wants/needs. 

I think it's telling that when the story first broke, 90% of the media and general public thought there was "no way Urban survives this," while 90% of Mgoblog was saying there was "no way OSU fires him."

Guess who was right ...

At least now the whole country sees what we have always known about the thorough degeneracy of that school and fanbase.

I didn’t say we should shift focus, I said the energy should be redirected from MGoBlog posts about how horrible and ridiculous this all is.

I thought his total refusal to apologize to Courtney Smith was the one and only time I've ever seen him be honest.  Usually he can BS his way through anything, but that was a rare moment we got a glimpse of his utter heartlessness.

Not to mention the investigation committee members. Don't some of them come from firms that supposedly do this sort of thing regularly?

149.351 Prohibiting destruction or damage of records.

(A) All records are the property of the public office concerned and shall not be removed, destroyed, mutilated, transferred, or otherwise damaged or disposed of, in whole or in part, except as provided by law or under the rules adopted by the records commissions provided for under sections 149.38 to 149.42 of the Revised Code or under the records programs established by the boards of trustees of state-supported institutions of higher education under section 149.33 of the Revised Code. Those records shall be delivered by outgoing officials and employees to their successors and shall not be otherwise removed, destroyed, mutilated, or transferred unlawfully.

Then why was Meyer's first thought and action to wipe the phone?

Voltolini literally told him (1) there's a chance someone might be able to get your text records through FOIA, and (2) here's how to delete your texts.  

#1 pretty much destroys any belief that Urban deleted the texts or that Voltolini told him how to because they thought the texts weren't covered by FOIA.

Meyer cares about protecting women, but only when it doesn't inconvenience his ability to coach his football team. 

Meyer is probably sorry for what happened to Courtney Smith, but he's more sorry for himself. The guy has such a high opinion of himself he thinks he couldn't possibly have done anything wrong, and probably views himself now as a martyr who's taking a fall to try and set some kind of example to his team and his fans about what he's willing to do. He's a selfish, arrogant piece of shit who's fortunate enough to be working for a school that, as you said, places winning football games above anything and everything else. 

Meyer and OSU are a match made in heaven. That's been to Michigan's detriment on the football field, but I doubt OSU fully grasps how much respect its lost as an overall institution this week. It laid out in plain sight for the entire country what its priorities are. 

What will come out in the next couple weeks? The investigative team already released their "findings."