The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Ashtabula braces for findings
Hometown of Meyer is on pins and needles waiting for OSU news
Urban Meyer’s hometown waits for findings pertaining to Ohio State coach.
Nick Detore put down his fork after finishing his lunch at the Crow’s Nest in Ashtabula and looked around the crowded room of the bar/restaurant he and his family owns.
The televisions around the room were showing a myriad of sporting events, including the Indians game and the weekend’s golf tournament.
As Detore scanned the room, he had a good idea of what topic might have been the most prevalent on this Sunday afternoon. It’s been the same overriding topic for the past few weeks.
What’s going on at Ohio State, and what will the future hold for Ashtabula’s favorite son, Coach Urban Meyer?
Ohio State announced Aug. 17 its independent inquiry into Meyer and his handling of domestic abuse allegations against former assistant Zach Smith would be completed Aug. 19.
From there, a decision will be made on what course of action the university might or might not take against Meyer.
To say the city of Ashtabula — and probably the county in general — is on pins and needles wondering what is go-
ing to happen with Meyer would be an understatement.
“Oh, it’s every day. Every day,” Detore said. “That’s brought up in here and talked about every single day.”
No one knows for sure when the findings will be revealed to the public and if Meyer will face any disciplinary action. Everybody has a different opinion, said Andy Parma, seated next to Detore. No one knows for sure. “I’d say it’s split 50-50,” Parma said on whether Meyer will be found innocent of any wrongdoing or he is held accountable in some manner and face discipline.
This much everyone knows — Smith is gone, as he was relieved of his duties in the aftermath of allegations against him for domestic abuse against his former wife Courtney.
Everything else, locals in Ashtabula feel, is a big question mark until the findings of the independent panel are made known.
“Are people nervous? Absolutely,”
Detore said. “Nobody knows the facts. We want to see it over . ... From what I know, which is what everyone else is hearing, how can one guy be responsible for 20 coaches and 120 kids and everything they do in their lives? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Seated around the corner from the establishment’s owner was a man named Fred, who declined to give his last name but had a heavy interest in the matter. He contends anything that happens at the home of Zach Smith was a family matter.
“His wife never followed through with a lawsuit. Charges were dropped,” Fred said. “My gut tells me they’ll let Urban go back to being the coach. What happened (with the Smiths) is between the husband and the wife. Any marriage should be that way.”
Bruce McClimans considers himself a huge sports fan on all levels, from the local high schools in the county to the Cleveland professional teams, and of course the Buckeyes.
He said his own personal policy is if he sees a man abusing his wife, he is going to help her then and there. If he hears of a problem,
he would turn it over to the police and let them handle it.
Meyer has said he reported what he knew about Smith’s alleged incidents with is ex-wife.
“I actually don’t think the NCAA should put that type of pressure on coaches,” McClimans said of putting coaches in charge of their assistants’ personal lives. “It’s getting to be too many hands in there. Too many hats you have to wear.
“Urban exemplifies what is supposed to be good. He is a good family man and all that stuff.”
When asked about how he thinks the findings will shake out, McClimans said, “I think he’s going to skate on this one.”
Mike Roach, who owns a barbeque and catering business in Ashtabula, said Meyer might have made some bad decisions in the reporting, and it might cost him his job.
“Although I think that terminating him is too harsh, I think it is what the board will decide,” he said. “The whole program will be adversely affected by this, which does worry me. I think that the NCAA should mandate all coaches to take training on domestic
violence recognition and how to handle incidents.”
Joe Streets shrugged his shoulders. As a Michigan fan, he said he is “just sitting here and waiting” to see how it all shakes out. He did have a guess on what might happen.
“I have a feeling Urban will get a two-to-three game suspension to try and set the precedent that things of that nature clearly will not be accepted,” Streets said. “I don’t think that necessarily means he knew anything about it, but who the heck really knows?”
Ohio State opens its season Sept. 1 against visiting Oregon State. With Meyer being on administrative leave, assistant Ryan Day has been appointed the acting coach in Meyer’s stead.
What’s next is anyone’s guess. Will Meyer get a suspension? Will he be fired? Will he be exonerated of any wrongdoing? Will it affect the team one way or the other? It’s a big guessing game. Suffice to say, Meyer’s hometown is anxious.
“Like I said, we want to see this over,” Detore said. “But if Urban is let go by that university, it’s going to be a long time before they recover.”