» Suspended OSU coach wanted to know how to delete old text messages,
Suspended coach ‘did not deliberately lie,’ university report said.
After a news report COLUMBUS — that raised questions about what famed Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer knew about past domestic violence allegations against one of his closest assistant coaches, he wanted to know one important thing: How to delete old text messages on his phone.
Meyer and a top athletic administrator discussed how to adjust the settings, a university report released Wednesday said, and when Ohio State’s investigators obtained the phone, they discovered no messages on it older than a year.
Still, they gave him the benefit of the doubt, a running theme in the report that found missteps on Meyer’s part related to his handling of the case but no unassailable evidence of a cover-up or that he “deliberately lied” about his knowledge of the case.
“We cannot determine,” the report said, “whether coach Meyer’s phone was set to retain messages only for one year in response to the Aug. 1 media report or at some earlier time.” “It is nonetheless concerning that his first reaction to a negative media piece exposing his knowledge of the 2015-2016 law enforcement investigation was to worry about the media getting access to information and discussing how to delete messages older than a year,’’ the report said.
The university report, which led trustees to suspend Meyer for three games for not following proper pro-
continued from C1 cedures in informing administrators about a troubled employee, details a long list of problematic conduct by assistant football coach Zach Smith: a 2013 charge of drunken driving; running up a $600 or so bill at a strip club on a recruiting trip; failing to show up at scheduled recruiting visits at high schools; taking sexually explicit photos of himself at the White House during a team visit; an addiction to a stimulant prescription drug used to treat ADHD that resulted in his being admitted into a drug treatment facility; and having a sexual relationship with a secretary on the football staff.
All along, Meyer found reasons not to act or said he was not aware of what was going on. There were no criminal charges filed in the domestic violence case. He had talked to Smith, who promised to do better. He was unaware of certain messages Smith’s wife had sent to his wife, Shelley. Ultimately, Meyer fired Smith on July 23 after Smith’s former wife obtained an order of civil protection against him.
“Repeatedly, Zach Smith’s conduct was met with reprimands and warnings by Coach Meyer, but never a written report, never an investigation and no disciplinary action until July 23, 2018,” the report said.
Confronted by investigators delving into what he knew and when, Meyer admitted, “I followed my heart, not my head,” when handling Smith, whose grandfather Earle Bruce, a former OSU football coach, was a mentor to Meyer.
“My loyalty to his grandfather Earle Bruce, who was my mentor, likely impacted how I treated Zach over the years,” Meyer said.
The decision to suspend Meyer came after a marathon private meeting of the university’s board of trustees that stretched close to nine hours Wednesday. As the meeting wrapped up, a group of fans stormed the building in which it was held, chanting support for Meyer.
Against the backdrop of a nationwide, intensifying focus on addressing abuse of women, the board decided that Meyer’s missteps in the case did not rise to a cover-up but warranted punishment. The board deliberated extensively over how many games Meyer should miss and painstakingly reviewed the report that had been prepared by investigators, and it brought Meyer and others in for questioning, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity because it was a confidential session.
Meyer was also suspended, without pay, for the remainder of the preseason. He will miss the season opener against Oregon State on Sept. 1, as well as games against Rutgers and Texas Christian, a top 20 team. He will, however, be permitted to work with the team outside of games beginning Sept. 2.
Ohio State’s athletic director, Gene Smith, was also suspended without pay, from Aug. 31 to Sept. 16.
“Their handling of this matter did not exhibit the kind of leadership and high standards that we expect of our athletic director, head coach, assistant coaches and all on the football staff,” a university statement said.
Meyer, one of the most successful coaches in college football — he won national championships with Ohio State in 2014 and with Florida in 2006 and 2008 — appeared somber at a news conference Wednesday night following the board meeting.
Meyer had been on paid administrative leave since Aug. 1 after allegations surfaced that Meyer knew Zach Smith had been accused of domestic violence since 2015, when the accusations were made. Meyer said in July that he had just learned of the case, but after being put on leave he released a statement saying he had misspoken and had “followed proper reporting protocols and procedures” after learning of the incident in 2015. Smith was fired in July.
The university’s report said Meyer “did not deliberately lie.” The report said that Meyer had learned of the domestic abuse case from Gene Smith, the athletic director, and that they had monitored the case for months without following university protocol to inform other officials.
The report was written by former Securities and Exchange Commission chairwoman Mary Jo White and her team from the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton.