Meyer on leave during OSU probe
Urban Meyer has been placed on administrative leave, Ohio State announced Wednesday evening, as the university conducts an investigation into if the head football coach was aware of an alleged domestic assault by one of his assistant coaches.
“(Athletic director) Gene and I agree that being on leave during this inquiry will facilitate its completion. This allows the team to conduct training camp with minimal distraction. I eagerly look forward to the resolution of this matter,” Meyer said in a statement.
Text messages and accounts from the victim cast doubt on Meyer’s claim that he did not know about the alleged domestic assault, according to a bombshell report released Wednesday.
The alleged victim, Courtney Smith, shared text messages that show Meyer’s wife, Shelley, attempting to console and advise her following incidents in 2015. A separate alleged text exchange with the wife of another Ohio State football employee implies Meyer knew about the assault directly.
Courtney has accused her ex-husband, former Ohio State wide receivers coach Zach Smith, of repeatedly abusing and attacking her.
Zach was arrested in May of criminal trespass, and Meyer said he knew only of a 2009 alleged attack involving his assistant, not the 2015 incident.
According to college football reporter Brett McMurphy, Courtney had the following alleged 2015 text exchange with Meyer’s wife, Shelley:
Shelley: “I am with you! A lot of women stay hoping it will get better. I don’t blame you! But just want u to be safe. Do you have a restraining order? He scares me”
Courtney: “Restraining orders don’t do anything in Ohio-I tried to get protection order which is what started this whole investigation. And that should go through soon finally. It’s hard bc you have to prove immediate danger. Legal system is tough. Basically you have to prove he will kill u to get protective order”
Shelley: “Geesh! Even w the pics? Didn’t law enforcement come to your place ever??”
Courtney Smith told another media outlet, Stadium, that she never confirmed Meyer knew about the assault. However, another alleged text exchange between Courtney and Lindsey Voltolini — the wife of an Ohio State’s football operations directory — implies that Meyer confronted Zach about the allegations.
According to McMurphy, these were the texts:
Courtney: “(Zach’s) trying to make me look crazy bc that’s what Shelley is saying (he’s doing)”
Lindsey: “He (Urban) just said he (Zach) denied everything”
Courtney: “I hope urban is smarter than that”
Lindsey: “He (Urban) doesn’t know what to think”
Courtney: “I don’t really care. Ya know”
Lindsey: “Yeah, don’t worry about urb”
Zach Smith was fired in July after details of his alleged domestic abuses surfaced. His arrest stemmed from violating a restraining order filed by his ex-wife. The couple divorced in 2015. Before that, Courtney alleged she suffered bruises on her neck and arms as a result of attacks. She also alleged Zach hit her with the metal top of a smokeless tobacco can.
Last week at Big 10 Media Day, Meyer — who has won three national titles as coach of Ohio State and Florida — claimed he only knew about an incident in 2009, when Zach was arrested for aggravated battery of a pregnant victim.
Meyer said he addressed it at the time by advising counseling.
“In 2009, Zach was an intern, uh, a very young couple. As I do many times — as I imagine most coaches or people in leadership positions — you receive a phone call, the first thing you do is tell your boss. Let the experts do their jobs. We’re certainly not going to investigate,” Meyer said. “It came back to me what was reported wasn’t actually what happened, so Shelley and I both got involved actually — because of our relationship with that family — and advised for counseling and wanted to help as we moved forward.”