Urban Meyer will continue to sit at home and pace the living room floor with the rest of us when his Buckeyes take the field without him on September 1st. The investigation hanging over Meyer has finally come to an end with the conclusion of Meyer being suspended without pay for the first three games of the season. The Board of Trustees came to this conclusion after three weeks of interviewing over 40 witnesses in both person and over the phone, looked over 10,000 pages of text messages, media statements, photos and calendar entries by Coach Meyer, police reports, contracts and even text messages from Courtney Smith.
The Board of Trustees looked deeply into Meyer’s hiring, supervising, retaining and firing of Zach Smith and with full cooperation from Ohio State University, Coach Meyer and Gene Smith, it was decided that Coach Meyer was aware of the previous history of Zach Smith and the domestic violence allegations against him, but he did not deliberately lie at the Big Ten Media Day on July 24th as he did not recall what he knew back in 2015 and answered the questions based on what he knew.
It was also concluded that Meyer did report what he knew to AD Gene Smith, but it was Smith that failed to report to the compliance review board. Smith is also suspended without pay from August 31st to September 16th. Domestic abuse charges were not made back when Meyer and Smith were aware of the allegations.
Meyer released his apology in a public statement saying, “There were red flags, I wish I had done more, I wish I had known more.”
Meyer states he did not know everything Zach Smith did at home and should have demanded more from him like he does with his players. During the Q&A when Coach Meyer was asked if he had a message to Ryan Day, the interim head coach, and his feeling towards staying home these past three weeks, Meyer said, “This has been very tough, one of the toughest things I’ve experienced. I have good players and a good staff and I love them dearly and appreciate everything they’ve done for this team and University. It’s one of the best coaching staffs I’ve had and look forward to watching them grow and keep moving forward.”
Meyer stated his biggest regret was not knowing more. He looked at Zach Smith differently because of his mentor, Earl Bruce. Meyer did terminate Zach Smith on July 23rd after a trespassing charge and restraining order were filed against Smith. Meyer has accepted and agreed with President Drake’s decision of suspension and is very apologetic to Buckeye Nation. Meyer never lost the support of Buckeye Nation as they rallied behind him on August 6th at the Shoe.
During his suspension, Ryan Day will lead the Buckeyes on the field for the first three games and keep things going as Meyer watches from the couch anxiously waiting to get back to his team.
