OSU President (Drake) will not make the final decision on Urban Meyer
Instead, the Board of Trustees (BoT) will.
Kyle Lamb per Twitter “The press release yesterday stated that the BoT would be convening and going into executive session”. According to Lamb, if this is indeed the case, the Board of Trustees would have the final say in reinstating Urban Meyer and not President Drake like many seem to believe.
August 18th, 2018 at 10:52 PM ^
At Kirk Herbstreit's house with Zack Smith taking photos for the record.
August 18th, 2018 at 10:36 PM ^
Say what? You should never let a board decide who to hire and fire except the president. Admin should absolutely make the recommendation or notify in some cases. Bad precedent. May be I Don't understand the role of the board. I wonder what their by laws say.
August 18th, 2018 at 10:40 PM ^
Urbz will be back by the 2nd game with no punishment. Most of the deep pockets funding OSU will want Urbz back and the BoT will deliver.
August 18th, 2018 at 10:53 PM ^
This signals that he will be reinstated. This allows no one person to take the blame from the public or fans for either decision. Also, if Drake thought he should be fired it allows the board to reinstate Meyer.
August 18th, 2018 at 11:03 PM ^
Fine with me if future parents are cool sending their kids into a place where their moral standards emblazoned on their walls ring hollow and where they could walk in on staff engaged in deviant sexual behavior with nothing done about it. That goes for schiano too.
What else did you expect from THE Ohio State University? The most self-unaware fans in America.
I'd feel ashamed to be a fan with all that's come to light. But these are their fans, so shame isn't something they understand.
August 18th, 2018 at 11:40 PM ^
They don’t care. They really don’t give a shit about outside perception. This is the same school that gave a huge middle finger to the NCAA by carrying Tressel off the field a year after he was given the show cause penalty.
When you keep winning, you really don’t have to care AT ALL about what anyone outside the programs thinks of you.
August 19th, 2018 at 12:37 AM ^
You can't shame people who never had it in the first place.
August 19th, 2018 at 10:14 AM ^
My oldest and best friend is from Columbus and is a die-hard Buckeye. He is thoroughly disgusted and ashamed of the situation at his school and in the B1G East generally. He is a good man. There are others.
August 19th, 2018 at 11:48 AM ^
So he's willing to place his principles first and not support the program until widespread changes are made to prevent stuff like this from happening?
August 19th, 2018 at 11:51 AM ^
You should remind him that there are 2 schools in the Big Ten East (Michigan and Indiana) that don't have horrific scandals attached to them. And that Rutgers is not in the Big Ten.
August 18th, 2018 at 11:10 PM ^
That whole regime should be fired.
August 18th, 2018 at 11:16 PM ^
I’m very disappointed that the last McMurphy post was removed. I was really looking forward to reading through it again today.
August 19th, 2018 at 12:18 AM ^
Yeah what’s the story on that being removed ?!
August 19th, 2018 at 1:11 AM ^
There was so much gold in that thread.
But my guess is, the OSU troll "scarlet1" (I think that's his username) was getting into arguments with everyone, including myself and nobody was backing down. I think it's also been said by the mods that one of the problems with mgo-3.0 is that banning users isn't available for regular mods and have to go through Seth and possibly HUEL to get it done. That along with all the other things they are trying to fix with the site that are more of a priority, it was probably easier to just delete the thread.
I thought Carlos Spicy Weiner was spot on when he said, " this thread should go into the Mgoblog hall of fame". Man, there was so much good shit in there.
August 19th, 2018 at 9:10 PM ^
one of the problems with mgo-3.0 is that banning users isn't available for regular mods and have to go through Seth and possibly HUEL to get it done.
Yeah, that's a real edge case for a bulletin board. On the internets. In 2018.
August 18th, 2018 at 11:24 PM ^
Is he going to pull a Dantonio and let the players decide?
August 18th, 2018 at 11:31 PM ^
He’s back no later than week 5. Which happens to be at Penn State. That’s if he’s suspended at all.
This is his way of deflecting responsibility and putting it on the BoT. He doesn’t want to have to answer to the alums if Meyer does somehow get let go. Not that Meyer will get let go. They’re not firing the golden goose.
August 18th, 2018 at 11:42 PM ^
Watch Urbz pull an Izzo and play the victim and start wearing purple ribbons on the sideline this fall and saying how sorry he is.
August 18th, 2018 at 11:45 PM ^
Look, people in Ohio have nothing else to be proud of other than OSU football. THey're not going to destroy the only good thing in their state willingly.
August 19th, 2018 at 3:56 AM ^
Hey man, I'm proud of the fishing and cedar point.. but yeah that's it.
August 19th, 2018 at 12:02 AM ^
Of course he won't, he doesn't want the blowback coming his direction. Have a nebulous "board" approve of Meyer coming back, that way it's more than one person and harder for any protesting groups to direct their anger on any specific person.
August 19th, 2018 at 12:28 AM ^
OSU’s Board members are appointed by the Governor, not elected by the people. The only MSU-like Board member (strong tie to athletic program) is Clark Kellogg. According to their website, the BoT IS responsible for employment of faculty and staff. I am sure they delegate that authority for routine matters, but this is a special case. Perhaps they will exercise their authoritah this time. (I don’t usually make South Park references, but I like that ‘authoritah’ line.)
August 19th, 2018 at 1:05 AM ^
The simple fact that people are debating whether or not the President should resign if the Board steps in shows this is not an ordinary staffing decision. Normally, it would be the Athletic Director who hires and fires coaches. I don’t understand why this decision is so important that it rises above the AD level, but is not important enough to involve the BoT. Presidents are not dictators of Universities. They are hired by the Trustees and have to answer to them. If you stick the University with a $38M bill, you better have the backing of the Board.
August 19th, 2018 at 9:20 AM ^
Just think for a moment about what you are saying. What you are saying is that President Drake gets to do the things and make the decisions that all university presidents get to do and make--except for decisions about one guy on campus, the head football coach. For that decision, the President is pushed aside and the BoT becomes the decider.
Sorry man but that is preposterous. That makes the head coach the only person on campus above the President. No serious university president could stay under those circumstances (Gordon Gee was sort of a joke; Drake probably is not a joke). Now, it could possibly go down that way. But if OSU wants to have a reputation as a serious institution going forward, then there is no way they would take this decision away from Drake.
Specifics...
1. It rises above the level of the AD because the AD is personally involved in the events. Did Meyer inform the AD? Why did the AD call Z Smith? etc. AD cannot be allowed to decide a matter that implicates the AD himself.
2. Of course university presidents 'have to answer' to the BoT and the BoT hires/fires the President. So what? That is completely different than the BoT itself taking away from President Drake the decision on Meyer. Imagine how hard it would be to hire good head coaches if the sitting AD were known to overrule prior coach decisions on starting QB. This would be similar.
3. Who ever said Presidents are dictators of universities? Straw man. It is NOT the role of a BoT to take the decision over whether to fire/suspend the football coach away from the President.
4. BoT takes pro forma rubber stamp votes on faculty hiring and tenure decisions. Even university President decisions on faculty hiring/tenure is a rubber stamp of department and/or university wide faculty hiring/tenure committees. If the BoT were to overrule faculty and/or President personnel decisions (or really even go seriously snooping around these decisions) it would become hard to hire Presidents and to hire/retain top faculty.
5. No, it is not an ordinary staffing decision. And that is why the BoT is even kept informed and consulted. But that is not the same as the BoT taking the ultimate decision away from President Drake.
August 19th, 2018 at 7:58 AM ^
Whitewash forthcoming.
August 19th, 2018 at 8:38 AM ^
Wow, sure are a lot of threads about osu, who is the obsessed rival?
August 19th, 2018 at 8:51 AM ^
Venture over to their boards on an average day and you'll see that the feelings are mutual.
Everyone's busy talking about that shit show right now though.
August 19th, 2018 at 10:03 AM ^
Did a lot of talking about the MSU issues until things finally got rolling up there since that was also off season. Obsession and content are two different things.
August 19th, 2018 at 9:04 AM ^
Everybody murders.
August 19th, 2018 at 9:33 AM ^
As I understand it, Univ. President is to BoT, what a corporate CEO is to the BoD. Board is the ultimate boss and is supposed to operate as fiduciary to the orginization.
A lot of the reporting relationship will be nuanced by the org. practice and compliance programs. Some BoDs are little more than rubber stamps for the C-suite, others take a more active role in oversight. A major university will more often be the latter, but you know, exceptions exist.
What happens with OSU will depend on which direction the BoT thinks is most important for the school. If they want to pull a Sparty and send the clear message that winning games is the ONLY thing that matters, they will keep Meyer but maybe issue a strongly worded statement about zero tolerance etc. and also no way in hell Smith will get his job back. On the other hand, if they have a strong compliance ethic such as that Michigan has (and if they are at all concerned about residual dirt continuing to leak out in the press) it would be difficult to retain Meyer.
August 19th, 2018 at 10:06 AM ^
You are probably correct, except the wild card is Smith. He is the classic type of person you would want as your bag man if you wanted a bag man. Big time name that can open some doors, check. Questionable moral character, check. Inability to clean his life up, requiring your continued favor to bail him out, check. Loyalty to you from a previous position, check.
If there are unknown Urban Meyer secrets out there, Smith probably knows and/or was involved in many of them.
August 19th, 2018 at 10:12 AM ^
I agree that it boils down to a decision about the basic identity of OSU.
A third option: A very long and onerous suspension with pay.
This third option could (1) send the signal that OSU has a strong compliance ethic and is a serious institution that has values more important than winning games, and also (2) avoids paying the buyout.
Why? If they fire Meyer, they will have to pay some negotiated very high amount of the $38 million remaining on the contract. A very expensive way to send a message about the values and identity of the University.
But of they subject Meyer to a very long an onerous suspension, then they get to send a message about the values and identity of the University as a place with values above winning games. Yet they also prompt Meyer to look for an NFL or SEC job, thereby avoiding paying the remainder of the contract. No way he would choose to stay if subjected to a really long suspension. And no way Meyer would try to litigate a constructive discharge claim either.
August 19th, 2018 at 10:57 AM ^
Ding, ding, ding!
August 19th, 2018 at 10:12 AM ^
I will bombard OSU administration offices with sex toy deliveries if and when Urban is retained.
August 19th, 2018 at 10:58 AM ^
Username checks out.
August 19th, 2018 at 10:18 AM ^
The BofT and Drake may have an easy time making this decision if the Report either contains culpable information or lacks it. I note that the report is being done by a major US law firm under the direction of Mary Jo White. Neither has any reason - and many reasons not to - issue a report that whitewashes Meyer. And, at least White and I suspect Debovoise has no apparent connection to OSU football. For example, White attended William and Mary, the New School and Columbia. On the other hand, I also note she was on an advisory panel that made recommendations to the NFL on Ezekiel Elliott. Remind me again where he played college football.
August 19th, 2018 at 11:29 AM ^
This is my guess for the committee's decision:
- Urban receives a 2 game suspension and is required to make a public apology for lying to the press
- AD resigns (not fired for cause - he only showed poor judgement in handling the information and poor up-stream communication to the BoT)
- Without police records and no arrest after investigating the 2015 incident, the information Urban had was too much "she said / he said" as it relates to pointing the finger at Urban. He reported what he knew and the AD failed to make the best decisions.
Here is Courtney's response:
- That wacky closet filed with all of the skeletons of their marital mess is opened to the public which haunts OSU all season and beyond.
- She is out to publicly shame her former husband and Meyer's reputation at the same time ... who knows what add'l dirt she has on this situation.
Can you imagine the pressers that Urban is going to have this year? Yikes
August 19th, 2018 at 1:31 PM ^
This is the outcome i would bet my money on. i guess at least Urban & OSU will be publicly shamed all season
August 19th, 2018 at 12:13 PM ^
I read this as a good sign . Washing his hands, so to speak... If canned then he won't take blame, and it'll be anonymous .
August 19th, 2018 at 12:58 PM ^
If Meyer gets reinstated, that means that lying to keep and protect your job, failing to supervise an assistant coach whose behavior has permanently damaged himself and besmirched the reputation of the university, are all redeemable sins in the pursuit of championship football.
And this would make the contractual obligation of anyone hired to meet certain standards as head coach irrelevant. And it would send that same signal to everyone who works at The Ohio State.
This decision, whether influenced by the board of trustees and specially appointed investigators, before being announced by the president in consultation with them, seems black and white to me.
There is no living color to it. Keep Meyer as coach, and you have surrendered the integrity of your school to playing winning football. Make this choice and you bow to the lowest common denominator of deplorable Buckeye nation.
Make this choice and then try to defend the school's position in connection with a pending Title IX federal probe of a former sports doctor who allegedly sexually abused hundreds of former Ohio State athletes, including former football players.
Tell the world, you are willing to put your school's reputation on the line in every meaningful way, because competing for national football titles will sustain the school long after any lawsuit is settled to make sure a former assistant wrestling coach didn't ignore the pleadings of his charges when they asked him to intervene and protect them from an unscrupulous doctor.
Fail to learn any lesson from other scandals at rival schools and how they botched their handling. Go ahead, make our day --forever.
Live the Unforgiven good life. And then accept your true mantle as The Ohio State. After all, you are what you are, No. 1, the most deplorable football school in the land.
August 19th, 2018 at 12:39 PM ^
Everybody is talking about the football backers and possible decrease in donations if Urban is fired. No one is saying much about what the faculty/staff's opinions have been regarding the academic reputation if this shmuck is retained. Could be the tiebreaker if they've been quietly vocal about the outcome.
August 19th, 2018 at 3:54 PM ^
The interesting thing is OSU can't look at this in a vacuum as an isolated incident when you factor in:
1. The sex scandal with the marching band
2. The scandal involving the wrestlers and a prominent politician
3. Just how bad of a human being Zach Smith was and that Urban seemingly turned a blind eye to his behaviour
4. Urban's own shady history going back to Florida
5. The building pressure of the #MeToo movement
Keeping will be a BIG risk if anything else comes out about either past transgressions at OSU or anything in the future. What's he going to do when a star player gets into trouble with his girlfriend? He won't be able to let that stuff slide anymore.
I think it's over for Urban.....whether they keep him or not.
