Ohio State places Meyer on paid leave
Ohio State placed coach Urban Meyer on paid leave Wednesday after a potentially-damning report by veteran journalist Brett McMurphy alleged that Meyer knew of domestic-abuse allegations involving an assistant coach in 2015 — something Meyer denied last week during Big Ten media days.
Meyer did fire receivers coach Zach Smith on July 24 but only after McMurphy’s original story unearthed police reports that shed light on Smith’s abusive relationship with now ex-wife Courtney.
Meyer said during Big Ten media days that he knew of a 2009 report that prompted him to recommend counselling for the “young couple.” Zach Smith, a graduate assistant under Meyer at Florida at the time, was accused of aggravated battery on his then-pregnant wife, according to reports, but the charge was dropped because of insufficient evidence.
But Meyer said he did not know about a series of allegations from 2015, one of which resulted in a menacing-by-stalking charge and restraining order, according to McMurphy’s report. The Smiths reportedly separated in June of that year and divorced in 2016.
“I can’t say it didn’t happen because I wasn’t there,” Meyer said last week of the 2015 allegations. “I was never told about anything and nothing ever came to light. I’ve never had a conversation about it. I know nothing about it. First I heard about that was last night ... and I asked some people back at the office to call and say what happened, and they came back and said they know nothing about it.”
Also Wednesday, the sports network Stadium posted a video interview in which Courtney Smith talks about the alleged domestic violence and what she believes Meyer knew.
Ohio State said Wednesday evening that Meyer will be on paid leave while it investigates the allegations and that offensive co-ordinator Ryan Day will serve as acting head coach.
Zach Smith has not been convicted of any charges. He pleaded not guilty last month to a charge in May of misdemeanour criminal trespass, according to reports,
after Courtney Smith accused him of driving to her apartment to drop off their son instead of an agreed-upon meeting place.
An Ohio court granted Courtney Smith a domestic violence protective order before Zach Smith’s firing.
McMurphy’s report on Facebook includes photos and screen shots of purported text conversations between Courtney Smith and Meyer’s wife, Shelley, that, if authentic, leave little doubt Urban Meyer knew of the 2015 allegations and kept Smith on his staff. In Courtney Smith’s video, she claims she sent photos to Shelley Meyer and spoke to her about the situation by phone.
“Shelley said she was going to have to tell Urban,” Courtney Smith told Stadium. “I said: ‘That’s fine. You should tell Urban.’”
If true, these allegations appear to be another awful example of a coach protecting a program rather than someone’s well-being.
It happened at Penn State. It happened at Michigan State. And it appears to have happened at Ohio State, as well.
Among the questions the college football community — and presumably Ohio State’s investigation — will be asking: To what extent did Meyer attempt to protect Zach Smith? Did he do it because Smith is a grandson of late Buckeyes coach Earle Bruce, whom Meyer viewed as a father figure?
And ultimately, will this permanently cost Meyer — an Ohio native who is 73-8 with a national title at Ohio State — his job?