Zach And Urban
[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.]
I think this story is going to be pretty big and shame on ESPN for not treating as such as of 12:55pm. It is front and center on Sirius. Brett McMurphy was just on. I've always liked him. He's a good reporter, honest, and a straight shooter. I don't think Urban makes it through this one.
The head scratcher for me is why he didn't Urban fire this piece of shit years ago. He is not even a good coach, so why keep him around?
There was also a box on the police report that has a box that you check to show if Smith was arrested. McMurphy has the original report that shows the box was checked that Smith was indeed arrested. Then, the same report comes out later by Columbus police dept showing the box unchecked. More corruption here? It is easier to defend Urban and OSU for employing a guy that was not arrested for domestic abuse as opposed to one that was.
Nit is that this was the Powell (suburb of C'bus) Police Dept, but your point still stands. Wondering what the driver to change the report was.
As for why he wasn't fired, one of the text messages did seem to suggest that Smith had something on the osu staff . "“Zach once told me,” said Courtney, “if he ever got fired and this all comes out: ‘I’ll take everyone at Ohio State down with me.’ ”"
Conspiracy theory alert: I'm sure it was an audit at the request of someone attached to the university (formally or not) to find any sort of technicality warranting the change.
It’s probably because firing him in 2015 would have necessitated bringing more eyes on the 2009 arrest and Urban would have had to answer those questions.
When you sweep it under the rug, it’s best to sweep it all under there and hope for the best.
Nope, Smith was in the fold because he was Earl's grandson. That's it. Once Earle died and this story broke it was easy for Urban to fire him.
McMurphy no longer works at ESPN. I doubt they're going to feature a story from a guy they fired. They'll wait until one of their CFB reporters has a story and they'll run with that and flood the airwaves with Herbstreit (LOL) and other CFB analysts to break it down.
Rage - at Zach Smith and the entire osu staff and administration
Sadness - at what Courtney Smith endured
Bewilderment - at how everyone seemed to know and how nobody did anything to protect Courtney Smith
These actions and statements by Meyer should come as no surprise to anyone.
So I assume the story will shift to our new Oline coach. How much did he know and was he the reason Meyer remained quiet.
Funny
They're already speculating on NJ.com that Greg Schiano will take over from Urb. Link.
There's an avenue open that Mrs Meyers did not inform Urban. He'll take it and he will walk.
https://twitter.com/WatchStadium/status/1024690700217200640
Although there was also this text exchange:
Courtney: "[Zach's] trying to make me look crazy bc that's what Shelley is saying [he's doing]"
Lindsey: "[Urban] just said [Zach] denied everything"
Courtney: "I hope urban is smarter than that"
Lindsey: "[Urban] doesn't know what to think"
Courtney: "I don't really care. Ya know"
Lindsey: "Yeah, don't worry about urb"
Which will hurt him in the court of public opinion.
But if he goes the route I suggest it wouldn't be too difficult to throw Lindsey under the same bus Shelley's under, right? If the powers that be would buy my theory on his own wife, what's another liar to them?
Hi whoever you used to be before you got this handle....
Anyways the problem with that is Shelly, like Urban, is bound under Title IX to report domestic abuse so to throw her under the bus would involve her also being willing to take the punishment for non-disclosure. Not sure how happy mom would be about that one.
It's a bit more complicated given her status with the University. Which is yet another reason why this problem is going to be hard for Urban to wiggle out of.
Simply a long-time lurker who took the plunge.
Anyways I agree with the fact that Shelley is in a very tight spot. However, that doesn't mean she informed Urban. I fully believe she did.
I'm simply looking through a lens of an athletic department that might find any possible angle to keep their golden goose.
Cynically, the Meyer family may decide that they are better off to keep Urban's income versus Shelley's income. He may indeed decide to throw her under the bus to keep his job.
All he has to do is have a plausible excuse that he did not know what Shelley knew.
It will take some other coach or coach's wife to step up and testify that Urban knew, which may happen given how many people on the OSU staff are going to be in the cross-hairs.
This is a horrible situation for OSU, but I still can't figure out why in the world Urban kept him on so long. His coaching alone was a fireable offense.
Unless, as mentioned above, he had some knowledge of something that gave him leverage.
As of 1:19 PM EST still nothing on ESPN.
Top of the news pile on the side is "Report Faults Idaho over sex assault complaint."
Top of feed is "Alabama Stays on top in CFB Power Rankings"
Good job ESPN.
I think this coupled with the fondling doctor at OSU will cause there to be more of a chance that Urban will step down but probably won't happen.
There was a similar situation a few years back at Colorado with Mike MacIntyre not doing anything about the abuse of one of his assistant coaches and he still is the head coach.
Lost in all of this is that Urban employed Smith only because he was Bruce's grandson. ONLY. Smith was/is a shitty football coach. OSUs receivers suck, and have for years. They under perform every year. Smith was/is a social media embarrassment. The fact that Urban kept him on the staff in spite of him being a horrible coach is something.
Can't say I'm surprised. Expect zero to come of this and Urb to coach at OSU for years to come.
If Urban was beating someone with a Michigan polo, they might give him a raise....not fire him.....
Nothing's going to happen. Nothing here has been said about Meyer that hasn't been getting said nonstop for the last 10 years.
The man is an all-time great coach on the field, but he's a win-at-all-costs sleazeball. Moral and character are great things to have but only when its convenient to him. He's just fortunate that he wins big every year and beats his rival. OSU is in the midst of a 15-20 year football golden age right now. You think they're going to let that all come crashing down right now?
My two cents says he holds some BS press conference to issue a worthless public apology, issues a pledge to be more vigilant in the future, goes back about his business, and the world will keep on spinning like nothing ever happened.
You can take the coach out of the SEC Country but you can't take the SEC Country out of the coach.
Except that Urban is basically a midwestern coach outside of his Florida years, and PSU and MSU exist. The Big 10 is not looking too good right now. Three schools have basically told Baylor, “hold my beer.” Meanwhile, Delany remains in charge, quietly counting his money.
He made his name at Utah.
Yeah, let's be honest . . . the SEC's paying players is looking pretty quaint next to the Big Ten's sexual abuse scandals.
If there was ever a time to look public opinion in the face and say F*&$ Y*% it is now. Nothing will happen to Urban. You have leaders doing all sorts of fu&#*@ sh*$ without consequence.
All you have to do is WIN and the masses will keep you.
I go to a place like ElevenWarriors hoping to be pleasantly surprised by the OSU fanbase reaction to this. Clearly I'm an idiot for expecting that, but Jesus it's depressing how much those fans will defend anyone as long as that person will help them win football games.
Everyone defending Meyer there just keeps saying how he did nothing wrong, how he had no obligation to do anything because charges weren't filed and he shouldn't be required to do anything, how it would have been a wrongful termination suit to fire him, and deflecting the blame to the police.
The twisting of logic there is just so insane. Firstly, all that's changed between 2015 and Smith's firing is an arrest for trespassing and the abuse claims becoming public. Meyer didn't fire Smith when the trespassing arrest happened (which he hasn't been found guilty of yet), only once the abuse stuff went public (once again which he was never found guilty of because his ex was bullied into keeping quit). Urban also claimed he didn't know about the 2015 abuse issues until a few weeks ago when it went public. So taking Urban at face value (lol like I would actually do that), Smith was either fired because he was charged with trespassing (which he hasn't been found guilty of) or because of the 2015 abuse stuff (which Smith was never found guilty of). In either case, clearly Urban has no problem firing someone without guilt being determined, because in either situation this is the case.
Now to this point Urban claimed he didn't know about the 2015 charges which is why Smith wasn't fired until now. But McMurphy's report shows he did know back in 2015. The texts show that Smith denied it and Urban didn't know who to believe. But regardless, Urban knew that the claims were out there, he knew about the 2009 stuff, and he new his wife was very concerned about Smith's wife based on the texts. Am I supposed to believe that in 2018 a trespassing charge without guilt is enough to fire Smith but an abuse claim in 2015, with all this smoke to verify its voracity, isn't? It seems like the reason things changed with Smith wasn't the trespassing, but that everyone else now knew about his abuse history.
This points to Urban's lying. If Urban actually believed that firing Smith was a wrongful termination suit, or that he wanted the legal system to play out before firing him which never happened, why not say at B1G media days? He couldn't, because it obviously wasn't a wrongful termination suit and he obviously doesn't care about guilt considering he fired Smith before any trespassing guilt was determined. Instead he went with "I didn't know" because that absolves him of responsibility and he didn't think anyone could prove him wrong. He knew about the abuse, didn't care even though he knew it was a fire-able offense, and lied when called out about it thinking he wouldn't be called on his bluff.
Other fun facts to note: Smith's wife got a restraining order against Smith in 2015 and recently a domestic violence civil protection order against Smith. So in two instances, although the police didn't find Smith guilty, a court implied they believed Smith's wife was in danger. Apparently that wasn't enough for Urban to fire Smith. Relatedly, in 2013 OSU RB Cralos Hyde was suspended 3 games for assault charges against a woman that were ultimately dropped. Why was Hyde suspended and Smith not? Even if he's not guilty, neither was Hyde, so why not at least suspend him? Answer: to keep this all hidden.
If you're an OSU your football coach kept an abuser on staff and tried to keep it all hidden because he thought it would help him win. Period. End of story. The only way to rationalize it is to say yeah he did, but I don't care because he met his bare minimum legal obligation and his job is to win football games by any means necessary. In which case, you're a POS and it shows how toxic your team/University is. Which seems accurate for OSU.
The way Meyer is being implicated in the public eye could have an effect on OSU's recruiting classes for 2019 and 2020. If the story has legs, it may influence recruits like Zach Harrison to avoid OSU.
Will it though? Unless Urban gets fired, why would players not want to player under him knowing that they will win and basically have immunity from morality and the law?
You would hope that the parents of recruits would see what a shit person Urban is and what being around that culture would allow their kid to become.
all the parents see is the dollar signs, and the quality education their kid's will get....oh wait...
Is that the important issue right now?
It is not. The important issue right now is that Zach Smith stays the hell away from Courtney Smith and probably his own children for that matter.
They recruited fine before Urban and will continue to do so. Anyone getting excited for that possibility should probably settle down.
Calling umbig11. How does this compare to the MSU story you were hinting at?
Sounds like its time for another "health scare" then go take the ND job.
Take a second and think about this. With our biggest rivals, MSU & OSU, it means so much to beat us in football they will do literally anything and condone everything if that mission is accomplished.
It's kinda amazing really. We are so in the heads of both schools they will tolerate wife abuse, rape, beatings, literally anything - if the coach can beat Michigan. That is all that matters to them.
So when Charles says Harbaugh doesnt emphasize the game enough take a moment and look at two schools who do. Wanna trade?
I dont.
While I'm sure they enjoy beating their rivals, the CFP appearances and B1G titles are probably pretty important too.
That being said - hell no I wouldn't trade. Nervous birds and all...
MSU? Yes it's beat UM at all costs.
OSU? I think they have gotten so accustomed to beating us that their "win at all costs" mantra is for national championships.
Also, don't forget PSU got this whole thing started. B1G East is turning into the "best" division for football and sexual assaults.
I don't think this is driven by a passion for football so much as a callous disregard for everything else. It's not like they're going, "Gosh, this is a tough choice, but sacrifices must be made." You have to not have any fucks to give in the first place to pick a game over someone's safety.
It's more like a sociopathic emptiness in one's life leads to embracing other things besides family with perverse fanaticism, such as a bunch of kids wearing one color doing better at a game than a bunch of kids wearing a different color.
Zach Harrison seems like a thoughtful young man. This may have a significant impact on his choosing the good guys.
Colin Cowherd is going to talk about this story next.
Gotta say that Colin just nailed it on that last segment. Said that college coaches are "salesmen" and that's their number one job. Said he'd at the very least suspend Urban until further notice if he was the OSU AD...
Rolling Stone article (to be released on Friday) claims Urban Meyer might have covered up an Aaron Hernandez drive-by shooting
https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/rolling-stone-article-claims-urban-meyer-might-covered-042603810.htm
Scratch that just noticed the date was from long ago
I made same mistake, someone just pointed it out to me the article is from 2013
Would love to see Urban get fired. I feel as though there is a .00001% chance of that happening.
I think you're grossly overestimating the chance. There aren't enough zeros to accurately write the correct number.
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