OSU President Michael Drake: Investigation will be finished when it's finished
Link to 11Warriors post about it.
The article itself has some more quotes and has more details about the investigation but it sounds like OSU is giving itself the potential to drag this out longer.
Lets hope Michael Drake is a #seriousdude.
August 17th, 2018 at 5:12 PM ^
But if he really hit her, it doesn't matter whether she's "crazy." (or a drunk or a druggie...) That's victim blaming 101.
August 17th, 2018 at 11:57 AM ^
Nobody is saying anything about DV is ok. But let’s not just gloss over the idea that she might in fact, be a part of the problem as well. Having just gone through my own messy divorce, it brings out the worst in everyone.
In my meager 40 years of life experience, one thing has become much more clear to me when you have a he said/she said situation, the truth is almost always somewhere in the middle. People embellish their own stories. Does that excuse dipshit for smacking her around? Fuck no. He is a piece of shit. However, I don’t think believing every word that comes out of her mouth does anyone any good. I have a distaste for Urban Meyer, I think he is a shady, smug, cheating, enabling asshole. That does not mean his life and career should be destroyed until their is iron clad evidence of some or all of those things. All anyone is, or should be saying is, let’s let the investigation play out and see what gets turned up. I think it’s safe to say that Drake is not about to risk his own career rubber stamping some keystone cops style investigation in order to appease the masses of cooler poopers and protect their beloved coach.
ugh, I feel dirty
August 17th, 2018 at 10:04 AM ^
I have no idea what OSU will do with Meyer, but there are serious people with good reputations on the committee investigating the situation, and they are not going to risk their reputations by preparing a whitewash report. What OSU does with the report is one thing, but I think it highly likely that the investigation itself and the ensuing report will be thorough.
August 17th, 2018 at 10:14 AM ^
I think the law firm will find whatever the university wants it to find. I don't have a ton of confidence that they're going to objectively reflect the information to find - that's likely not what they're being paid to do.
August 17th, 2018 at 10:34 AM ^
I disagree. The law firm will hire investigators to interview witnesses and review documents, both internal and the reports generated by the police. Despite an effort to portray Courtney Smith as emotionally/mentally unstable, I believe accounts of domestic abuse will be verified.
The question is what did Urban know (and we know he knew because his wife knew of the abuse) and what did he do? The secondary question is will the university try to spin this in a way that Urban did the right thing. There is no reasonable reading of the facts as we currently know them that leads to the conclusion Urban did the right thing, because the right thing was to terminate Zach Smith from his staff years ago. This guy has a history; a history of domestic violence and now we know an incident involving drunk driving. Alcohol abuse and domestic violence often go hand in hand.
I think the report will be damning in terms of the facts. The only wiggle room has to do with Urban's claim that he reported the domestic violence. Even if he did, why did he keep this guy on staff? There is no excuse for that.
August 17th, 2018 at 10:53 AM ^
This isn't a criminal investigation. The law firm isn't obligated to seek objective truth. They're being paid by Ohio State and will serve at the direction of their client. I'm sure they won't fabricate anything but there is a ton of leeway with regards to what they will focus on. Not sure why you're so convinced that the involvement of a high-profile legal firm ensures that every stone will be overturned in 100% good faith.
August 17th, 2018 at 11:11 AM ^
Yes, this. "There is a ton of leeway with what they can focus on".
August 17th, 2018 at 12:32 PM ^
agree. a cpa or forensics firm would be a better choice.
August 17th, 2018 at 10:16 AM ^
Their reputations are limited to Ohio, though, right? Not much of a risk in saving the areas most beloved coach if you ask me....but nobody's asking me!
August 17th, 2018 at 11:29 AM ^
I don't know about that. They work for Debevoise & Plimpton, a large and prominent law firm based in NYC. Their senior chair is on the committee.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debevoise_%26_Plimpton
The committee aren't the ones deciding whether or not to fire Meyer. I don't think they will get blamed for finding evidence. On the other hand, if they overlook evidence that surfaces after their report, that could hurt their reputation and wouldn't be good for OSU either.
August 17th, 2018 at 10:15 AM ^
1. Urban lied to the media at Big 10 Media Days. His explanation for lying (not prepared for the question) is no reason to lie or explanation for the lie. Ergo, he lied about why he lied.
2. Urban clearly was covering for Zach Smith, which entails covering up who he was, what he was doing vis a vis domestic abuse, and what his character is/was. Covering up the fact he retained a coach who had a history of domestic violence and allowing him to "mold young student-athletes" is an egregious error in judgment.
Any educational institution that purports to put its students and/or student-athletes first would not keep such a person on staff. Let's hope the investigation isn't simply a white wash or an effort to shame or silence the victim. That happens all too often in DV cases.
August 17th, 2018 at 10:41 AM ^
What a coincidence that none of the OSU trolls have commented on this thread...
August 17th, 2018 at 11:24 AM ^
They're all finally banned
August 17th, 2018 at 10:42 AM ^
I'm still guessing a short suspension.
August 17th, 2018 at 10:48 AM ^
Whether or not Meyer is ultimately fired at this point, it will be interesting to see how the team deals with an extended investigation if he is still out when the season actually starts. I don't know how it is affecting them now, but I do wonder if this is a different team without Meyer's presence or input for the time being.
It also makes me wonder who thought you could just go out there and say "14 days" in the first place. That's what initially made this seem like a joke, but Drake is a academics guy and maybe this is no longer a joke.
August 17th, 2018 at 10:58 AM ^
Maybe they are trying to do a buyout with the Liar and can’t agree on terms...
August 17th, 2018 at 3:16 PM ^
Meyer doesn't need a buyout because Notre Dame will pay him $12M/year if OSU fires him.
August 17th, 2018 at 11:14 AM ^
I will take the optimistic view that they are taking their time to make sure it is thorough. This is a serious issue, and they are doing what needs to be done in order to make sure that they come to the proper resolution. But my guess is that they'll clear Meyer right after week 1, just in time for TCU. Or he'll get a suspension of a game and they'll just make it retroactive.
August 17th, 2018 at 11:25 AM ^
I have maintained that OSU has been planning to reinstate Meyer after maybe a half season suspension. OSU probably had hoped that the media firestorm would've died down by now. It hasn't and it sounds like the OSU prez and others that are "investigating" the issue are frustrated by it.
I don't know, just my 2 cents.
August 17th, 2018 at 12:53 PM ^
I kind of hope they retain Urby. I don’t want to hear any excuses when Michigan rolls into that dilapidated town beats them down and Harbaugh gets that monkey off his back!!
Go Blue!!
August 17th, 2018 at 1:00 PM ^
My take is they are now waiting for DJ Durkin to be fired at UMD and then when that is announced they can quietly reinstate Urban and hope it gets passed over by the media.
August 17th, 2018 at 1:09 PM ^
I also believe that McMurphy or someone is holding an ace up his sleeve, and when OSU announces Urban's reinstatement, he'll pull out that card and all hell will break loose.
August 17th, 2018 at 2:00 PM ^
As much as I wish that were true, I really don’t think it is. The reason I say that is because everything McMurphy has shown has been related to Smith and virtually none related directly to Meyer. He may have something, but the sourcing he did for the Smith story was almost exclusively about Smith and very little about Urban.
Maybe he has an ace, but I am guessing not so much.
August 17th, 2018 at 3:16 PM ^
The bombshells are all about Smith because the story is about Meyer enabling him for years. It becomes harder and harder to justify Meyer’s treatment of him with each new revelation of his criminal behavior.
August 17th, 2018 at 1:12 PM ^
I think that would be a terrible idea. Reinstating Meyer right after Durkin was reinstated makes sense. But right after Durkin is fired? That story would not be buried. OSU and Meyer get a lot more media attention than Maryland. Think of the difference between interest in Michigan and MSU. Durkin's firing will not make it easier to keep Meyer.
August 17th, 2018 at 3:32 PM ^
oh, it's finished. don't fool yourself.
August 17th, 2018 at 4:38 PM ^
They're dragging their feet until they can announce they found nothing and they're bringing him back without too much outrage, bank on it.