Zach And Urban Comment Count

Brian

[Eric Upchurch]

So I guess we should talk about this now:

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Text messages I have obtained, an exclusive interview with the victim and other information I have learned shows Ohio State coach Urban Meyer knew in 2015 of domestic abuse allegations against a member of his coaching staff.

Courtney Smith, ex-wife of fired Ohio State assistant coach Zach Smith, provided text messages between her and the wives of Ohio State coaches – including Urban Meyer’s wife, Shelley – showing Meyer’s knowledge of the situation.

Meyer said last week during Big Ten Media Days that he had no knowledge of two alleged domestic violence incidents in 2015 with former assistant wide receivers coach Zach Smith that were investigated by the Powell (Ohio) Police Department.

Meyer said had he known, he would have fired Smith in 2015 – three years before he did last week after I reported the alleged domestic violence.

If you haven't been following this story, it goes like this:

  • Earle Bruce has a child, who has a son in turn. This person gets named "Zach Smith."
  • Smith listens to "Bawitdaba" nonstop for 28 years.
  • Smith gets hired at Ohio State because nepotism and proceeds to go on a series of childish rants on twitter. His coaching acumen appears to consist of yelling "hashtag zone six!" at his charges, who respond by dropping balls so emphatically their hands also fall off.
  • Smith has a series of domestic violence charges during this period starting in 2009, when he threw his pregnant wife into a wall, with additional police involvement in 2015 and this year.
  • Reporter Brett McMurphy exposes Smith shortly before Big Ten Media days, prompting a series of questions from reporters to Meyer; according to Courtney Smith, Zach's ex-wife, Meyer lied about his knowledge of the situation.
  • Smith gets fired.

The above article is damning and should be read in its entirety. Smith's abuse was scary and persistent; a text exchange between Courtney Smith and Shelley Meyer asks whether Smith has a restraining order—which is read as obviously necessary—and says "he scares me."

Unless Urban Meyer can make the case that his wife decided not to tell him about the years of abuse Courtney Smith was enduring—and that every OSU coach's wife made the same decision—this is a case of an institution knowingly employing a serial abuser. This isn't against the law. It's not against NCAA rules. It should be unacceptable in the court of public opinion, and you'd hope that would be enough to drum other folks out of their jobs up to and including Meyer.

I'm skeptical this will happen. OSU was readying a full-throated defense of Jim Tressel ("I just hope he doesn't fire me") when it became clear that directly lying to the NCAA four times would inevitably result in a show-cause that would terminate Tressel whether OSU wanted to or not. Without a similar sword hanging over OSU's neck*, their choice is to either disrupt their football golden era or follow the example that Meyer provided—downplay, hide, dismiss, survive. I got a dollar on the second playbook.

*[McMurphy thinks there might be Title IX issues. As we've seen at MSU—why are our rivals all so awful—those take years and rarely touch the levers of power.]

Comments

hunterjoe

August 1st, 2018 at 12:13 PM ^

While he's scum and should be fired over this, us wishing this seems like the easy out.  Yeah, with him gone it likely makes OSU more beatable.  But if we want to hold ourselves as high as we do, we need to beat the best and him at OSU gives us a chance for that every year.  But yeah, he should be fired. 

canzior

August 1st, 2018 at 12:14 PM ^

Cowherd is going in on him as well. Not 100% convinced Meyer will survive because of the climate of today's society. But like many have said, it didn't doom anyone at MSU so...

Yinka Double Dare

August 1st, 2018 at 12:18 PM ^

Of course, if they somehow do fire Meyer, the guys on staff most likely to be promoted to interim HC are:

A coach who was drummed out of the NFL because he was such a shitbag to his players, or

A coach who was fired from Indiana for player mistreatment.

mgobaran

August 1st, 2018 at 12:22 PM ^

For reference, Ray Rice was released by the Ravens in September of 2014. The 2015 incident would have occurred in an era when domestic violence was a huge topic in sports, which should have led to hyper-sensitivity on the issue. Urban Meyer and OSU had a chance to be proactive in this and their lack of action might just come back to bite them. It should at the very least. 

LabattsBleu

August 1st, 2018 at 12:23 PM ^

Every non-OSU fan knew Urban was a scumbag when he hired Kevin Wilson... no one ought be shocked at all that he sheltered Smith.

if Meyer was an middling 8-5 coach during his career, he would have been fired once this stuff became public.

Because he wins, and wins big, OSU will do its damnedest to bury this story.

4godkingandwol…

August 1st, 2018 at 12:28 PM ^

If I’ve learned anything over the past few years is that tribalism and nativism are more powerful forces than morality. 

I suspect nothing will come from this. Good to know that our institutes of higher education continue to lead by example for their students, alumni, and community at large. 

N. Campus Tech

August 1st, 2018 at 12:32 PM ^

I don't know what the big deal is. You all act like you have never brought home a girl, who ended up being your boss’s long time secretary, on your one year anniversary to your pregnant wife, who ended up taking her home because she thought it wasn't a good idea for her to stay the night, and then getting so mad you choke slam your wife into a wall. Hey, we've all been there.

BillyOcean

August 1st, 2018 at 12:55 PM ^

Too much pressure from outside groups coming the University's way. Someone gonna fall for this. If you think Urbs gonna get away Scott free or a slap on the wrist you're crazy. 

Salinger

August 1st, 2018 at 1:00 PM ^

I hope you're right, but if history is any indication of what Urban Meyer is held to account for, me thinks he will probably still be coaching the Buckeyes next year.

Tom Izzo is still coaching too... think about that.

Salinger

August 1st, 2018 at 12:59 PM ^

The full report is pretty damning. Seems hard to establish that Meyer did not know. This will probably as a court-of-public-opinion fiasco that will result in Urban saying that it galvanized the team and gave them a chip on their shoulder.

Banal platitudes will be offered. 

Nothing will change.

Man, I want to beat OSU. There's a banal platitude for you.

Bigfoot

August 1st, 2018 at 1:01 PM ^

So he went this far to cover a domestic violence issue against Smith. Can anyone imagine what else is in that closet?

mad magician

August 1st, 2018 at 1:03 PM ^

What compounds this is Meyer’s similar record of negligence at Florida, which he ran from and paid no price for. Great football coach, sure, but not at all an admirable person and someone of whom the most charitable read is that he’s not good at promoting a healthy and safe culture within his programs. But it’s also not unreasonable to conclude he simply doesn’t care.