On Wednesday night, after a two week investigation by the Board of Trustees from Ohio State University, head coach Urban Meyer was suspended for the first three games of the college football season. The suspension comes on the heels of allegations against Meyer for his mishandling of allegations that former assistant football coach Zach Smith abused his wife Courtney Smith.
There’s plenty written about the alleged domestic abuse, with Brett McMurphy breaking the news and covering it thoroughly. The facts remain unclear, but the text messages obtained by McMurphy from Courtney Smith (including messages from Meyer’s wife Shelly) are fairly damning. The history of allegations against Zach Smith stems all the way back to 2009, when he was an assistant coach under Meyer at Florida. Smith faced aggravated battery charges, but Courtney Smith refused to press charges. Smith was then arrested (or not arrested, since the report was “revised” without explanation three years later) in 2015. You can read the report for yourself, again, courtesy of McMurphy. Zach Smith was then fired in July of this year after these reports surfaced, combined with a criminal trespassing charge he’s facing after another dispute with Courtney Smith. The two have been divorced for several years.
After the story broke, Meyer was questioned at Media Days about what he knew about Zach Smith, and when he knew it. In short: he lied. Meyer stated he did not know about the alleged incident in 2015, but then released a statement saying that he misspoke. That’s a red flag for one major reason: how can he misspeak on a question he should have known was coming? How could he not be prepared?
To be fair, the biggest issue here isn’t whether Meyer lied to the media. Coaches do that fairly often. The lie, however, resulted in intense scrutiny that caused Meyer’s story to unravel. What did Meyer know? More importantly, when did he know it? It seems fairly clear that Meyer knew of the alleged incident in 2015, and he knew well before Smith was fired in July. He failed to alert the proper authorities. In fact, it’s safe to say he failed to act at all.
The three game suspension for Meyer is laughable and terribly sad. For perspective, Terrelle Pryor was suspended five games for free tattoos. A punishment being handed out means Meyer was wrong and botched the handling of the situation. A three game suspension means Ohio State didn’t really care. The investigation found that Meyer did not “knowingly cover up” the allegations. But he failed to act. Isn’t apathy in the face of domestic abuse allegations just as bad?
Meyer and Ohio State held a press conference, where Meyer shared his apologies and regret over the situation. He expressed remorse over “following his heart and not his head” and “giving Zach Smith the benefit of the doubt.” Meyer apologized to “Buckeye Nation” and the student athletes. But to Courtney Smith? “I’m sorry we’re in this situation.” Because obviously Urban Meyer is the victim here. He plans on taking domestic abuse allegations seriously in the future. But, he can’t even mention Courtney Smith’s name in the press conference? Atrocious.
There’s a new definition of tone deaf, and we’re looking at it.
Poppa Bear is the Lead SEC Analyst for the SoBros Network, and serves as our resident expert on the human anatomy, fixin’ stuff, and tomatoes. Follow on Twitter:@SoBroPoppaBear
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