Is coach the latest witch hunt victim?

Let’s get something straight. This author can’t stand Ohio State. First, there is the unmerited arrogance of referring to itself as “The” Ohio State University. In reality, that moniker is borne of paranoid delusion and a massive inferiority complex. Second, while Ohio State is a solid program, it pretends to be in a powerhouse football conference. It is not. Most of its teams are doormats, with the exception of Penn State, which has achieved wonders despite being wrongly penalized in the Sandusky fallout. The truth comes out during bowl season when the Big Ten usually gets its derriere handed to it by SEC and ACC teams.

But worst of all is Ohio State’s long history of anti-Catholic behavior. Decades ago, Notre Dame’s attempts to join the Big Ten were crushed by Buckeye bigotry. And clearly, nothing has changed, evidenced by the inappropriate shots former University President Gordon Gee took just a few years ago against “those damn Catholics,” when the Irish were again looking to possibly join the conference. Fittingly, Gee resigned quickly thereafter.

That said, embattled football coach Urban Meyer needs to be defended, on at least some levels, as he is quickly becoming the scapegoat du jour for America’s newest pastime: witchhunts steeped in pass-the-buck accountability. It is just the latest episode where people are increasingly viewed as guilty until proven innocent, consequences to reputation, family and livelihood be damned.

At issue is whether Meyer knew about domestic abuse allegations from 2015 leveled against Zach Smith, a longtime assistant, by Smith’s now ex-wife Courtney. If so, the questions then become when Meyer knew, and what he did about the allegations. Meyer has been placed on paid leave pending the results of an Ohio State investigation.

Here are some pertinent points that are being drowned out by the hysteria to fire Meyer:

1) Zach Smith has never been convicted of domestic abuse, despite allegations of such in 2009 and 2015. That bears repeating. He was never found guilty of physically harming Ms. Smith. In fact, he never went to trial, because charges were either not filed, or later dropped (by Ms. Smith herself, and because of insufficient evidence).

None of this means that Zach Smith is an angel. According to reports, he sent unsavory text messages to Courtney over the years, with language that most would perceive as threatening. However, and this is a big however, because Zach was never convicted, and because Courtney failed to press charges, what exactly should Meyer have done differently? Was he supposed to fire someone he had known for many years simply on allegations that came to him via third parties?

2) According to reports, Courtney told her story to other coaches’ wives, including Meyer’s wife Shelley, ostensibly to make Meyer aware of the situation. “All the (coaches’) wives knew,” Smith told McMurphy. “They all did. Every single one … I do believe (Meyer) knew and instead he chose to help and enable the abuser.”

Sorry, but that doesn’t cut it. Not by a long shot.

If you want to stop abuse, then you go to the police, and go all the way. You don’t go to the coach’s wife. That’s insane. But because Courtney did just that, and Zach Smith remained a coach, many are now clamoring for Meyer to lose his job.

This is not a callous attack on Ms. Smith, but something much more basic: if she was not willing to step up and do what was necessary, then why should others?

3) If Urban Meyer goes down, it will likely be because he lied. During the recent Big Ten Media Day, when asked if he had knowledge of the allegations, Meyer responded, “I was never told about anything … never had a conversation about it. So I know nothing about it.” Yet just days later, he stated that he was aware of the situation in 2015, and went through proper channels in reporting it to university officials. If true, that would seem to get Meyer off the hook for inappropriate handling of allegations, but possibly not for lying. Given that his $40 million contract may be on the line, that’s no small thing.

The question here isn’t whether a coach abused his wife, because unfortunately, we will likely never know the full truth.

The bigger issue is the need to protect the rights of the accused (no matter what we may think of them personally), giving preference to evidence and the rule of law over hearsay and social media mob rule. We may not always like how the game ends, but if we follow the playbook and adhere to the rules, we all ultimately win.