Ohio State’s Meyer moves toward repairing after scandal damage
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said he has sent letters and had conversations with families of players as a key step toward containing and repairing the scandal that led to his threegame suspension, a saga he describes as “a window in time I made an error.”
He acknowledged Monday that the program’s reputation has suffered and said he hopes more clarity about what happened will help mitigate the damage.
In what normally would have been a press conference about the week’s football game, the Ohio State coach met for nearly an hour with reporters who questioned him about his mismanagement of fired assistant Zach Smith and his resulting suspension after a university investigation.
“I think there was,” Meyer said when asked whether the program was damaged. He said the letters and talks with families of players were to assuage concerns that he turned his back on domestic violence allegations.
“The damage, I believe, is that we just went through a really hard time, and I made a mistake in helping a troubled employee, went too far in trying to help someone,” Meyer said.
Beyond his players, Meyer’s explanations and actions have ramifications with potential recruits. Four-star linebacker Kane Patterson from Tennessee already rescinded his commitment to Ohio State since Meyer was suspended.
Meyer reiterated his contention that he didn’t ignore or cover up domestic abuse allegations against Smith, who was fired in July. Smith denies abusing his wife, Courtney Smith, and was never charged or prosecuted for domestic violence. Meyer said his mistake was not asking more questions about their situation and instead trying to help Zach Smith keep his job so he could continue to support his family.
He also again denied lying to reporters about his knowledge of 2015 allegations against Smith, saying that he “misspoke.” Ohio State’s investigative report found that Meyer intended to keep details of Smith’s troubles private when asked by reporters.
“I’m going to keep saying if for the rest of my life, this was about trying to help an employee with work related issues. It was not about lying to the media,” Meyer said.
Meyer was asked about memory issues cited by the report as a reason why he might not have remembered specific conversations. He said he’s had some medical issues that required some “pretty heavy meds at time,” but said “I’m very healthy” and none of those issues would affect his running of the program.
Meyer was put on paid leave on Aug. 1, two days before the Buckeyes opened fall camp as the university launched its investigation.
EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings have waived rookie kicker Daniel Carlson, after the fifth-round draft pick pulled all three of his fieldgoal attempts wide right at Green Bay.
Two of Carlson’s misses came in overtime on Sunday, forcing the Vikings to settle for a 29-29 tie with the rival Packers. Carlson was promptly cut on Monday, as the Vikings signed wide receiver Aldrick Robinson.
When asked by a reporter how the Vikings reached the decision, coach Mike Zimmer said, “Did you see the game?”
The Vikings didn’t immediately add a replacement for Carlson, but Zimmer confirmed they’ve invited free agent Dan Bailey to Minnesota for a physical exam. That makes it all but certain they’ll sign Bailey, who’s the second-most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history. The 30-year-old was released by the Dallas Cowboys right before the regular season began in a cost-saving decision, following his injury-influenced regression in 2017.
Carlson was awarded the job when the Vikings let Kai Forbath go on Aug. 20, and Carlson pulled two field-goal tries wide left in an exhibition game four days later. He converted his only attempt, a 48-yarder, plus three extra points in the opener against the San Francisco 49ers on Sept. 9.
Then came the debacle at Lambeau Field , after which Carlson acknowledged he’d lost some faith in his ability upon lining up for the 35-yard try on the last play of overtime. He missed from 49 yards earlier in the extra period and from 48 yards in the second quarter.
“It’s disappointing for me personally. The team fought so hard. We expect to win that, and I expect to make those kicks to win the game for the team,” Carlson said.
“That last one was probably more just confidence after missing twice early. That is frustrating. That shorter one I should never miss like that.” Since Zimmer took the job in 2014, the Vikings have had plenty of these problems. Blair Walsh never fully recovered from his 27-yard miss in the subzero cold of the playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks after the 2015 season.
He was let go midway through the 2016 season in favor of Forbath, whose biggest trouble was extra points.