Ohio State: Urban Meyer suspended 3 games

#26      

sacraig

The desert
It's #2 for Ohio State if you include the wrestling stuff, and let's not forget what was found out against Beckman here.

It's an ugly profession, no question about it.

It's not the profession that is ugly. Power is ugly. Power corrupts. Any time someone is placed in a position of power with little to no accountability, the chances of abuse increases, regardless of the industry or profession.
 
#27      
It's not the profession that is ugly. Power is ugly. Power corrupts. Any time someone is placed in a position of power with little to no accountability, the chances of abuse increases, regardless of the industry or profession.

Agreed, but I would say major college revenue sports is a culture uniquely suited to people attaining "untouchable" status, amid a culture of testosterone-fueled young men. It's a powder keg.
 
#28      
Nothing significant will come of this. Just like MSU.

Yup. It's disgusting that just like Izzo, he'll still be looked upon as a role model because his team wins games. It's absurd to me that in 2018, institutions can get away with covering up blatantly obvious cases of abuse, and yet it happens all the time. Wake me up if anything happens other than Meyer retaining his job and people calling him a "man of integrity." Otherwise I'm going to assume that's the predetermined outcome, as is the protocol for this stuff.
 
#29      
Has any major name come back from admin leave? Not sure I remember anyone doing that but I'm sure it's happened.
 
#30      

KrushCow31

Former Krush Cow
Chicago, IL
My buddy who is a grad student at OSU says the campus vibe is that he is going to get fired. So who knows.
 
#31      
I'm guessing the investigation will find that he knew, took no action, and will be handed a 3-game suspension as a result. He will express his deepest regret, reiterate his support for women and abhorrence of violence against women, and vow to donate money to an anti-violence charity.

And that'll be the end of it.

We'll see. This has already gone farther than I would have guessed.
 
#32      
Nothing significant will come of this. Just like MSU.

MSU is different in football because head coach reported violations through appropriate channels, and has it documented, so the media left it alone. Not sure about Izzo. I’m hearing Meyer ignored them.
 
#33      
I’m hearing Meyer ignored them.
From what I've read, he ignored them, assistant(s) (what level they are at is apparently up for discussion) told others to ignore/keep them quiet, and coaches wives even texted about it, again trying to keep it hush hush. This includes Urban's wife, who was also employed at tOSU.

There seems to be an insane amount of coverup, which is what makes me even sicker. I think tOSU is trying to see how the public reacts to this before firing Meyer. If this calms down quickly, I think he gets a suspension, but I doubt this doesn't get bigger, rather than smaller, first.
 
#34      
MSU is different in football because head coach reported violations through appropriate channels, and has it documented, so the media left it alone. Not sure about Izzo. I’m hearing Meyer ignored them.

The other difference with MSU, let's be honest, is that MSU is scared of what a post-Dantonio world looks like. OSU believes themselves, not without some justification, to be a juggernaut no matter who is coaching.
 
#35      
But the report talks about how the wife filed for a restraining order and the coach was arrested (separate instances). The police were called by the wife in Gainesville, the whole thing has come out of police reports. I'm not seeing a cover up. What is Meyers supposed to report? Call the police and tell them that they arrested a guy for domestic battery so they should probably investigate if he committed domestic battery?

Further, does texting someone's wife really trigger a mandatory report? That's a couple levels of hearsay there.

Having his "life coach" talk the woman out of filing charges is clearly an issue, but I'm lost as to how Title IX works in here.

It sounds like this is one of the cases where the cover up is worse than the lie. Meyer is getting in trouble for lying about knowing at previous Media Days.

I read the source article, and it paints a very ugly picture. Is it all true? Dunno, but the quotes from the wife sounds like she gave him the benefit of the doubt and suffered dearly for it. Zach Smith sounds like a real scumbag, with a lengthy history of physical violence against her.

The author assumes that telling Urban's wife meant that Urban knew what she knew. That seems like it leaves the door open for some plausible deniability. I'm cynical enough to think that he'll be punished for the stuff that's provable, but not fired given there will likely be some ambiguity about exactly what he knew, and the denials of the abuser.

tOSU has plenty of time to cover this up and/or whitewash it, given it's still the offseason. That would be my bet. Personally, I'm sad for the woman, and glad she's finally moving on. It's hard to know how much Meyer enabled this situation, but it looks like willful ignorance on first read. JMO. I do wonder about how the police handled it. If it's true she had significant injuries, that really makes the cops look incompetent, or worse. Makes me wish she had some friends that would have helped her and encouraged her when the justice system didn't do its job.....
 
#36      

Deleted member 29907

D
Guest
I read the source article, and it paints a very ugly picture. Is it all true? Dunno, but the quotes from the wife sounds like she gave him the benefit of the doubt and suffered dearly for it. Zach Smith sounds like a real scumbag, with a lengthy history of physical violence against her.

The author assumes that telling Urban's wife meant that Urban knew what she knew. That seems like it leaves the door open for some plausible deniability. I'm cynical enough to think that he'll be punished for the stuff that's provable, but not fired given there will likely be some ambiguity about exactly what he knew, and the denials of the abuser.

tOSU has plenty of time to cover this up and/or whitewash it, given it's still the offseason. That would be my bet. Personally, I'm sad for the woman, and glad she's finally moving on. It's hard to know how much Meyer enabled this situation, but it looks like willful ignorance on first read. JMO. I do wonder about how the police handled it. If it's true she had significant injuries, that really makes the cops look incompetent, or worse. Makes me wish she had some friends that would have helped her and encouraged her when the justice system didn't do its job.....

Urban to Wife: "Honey, I need to throw you under the bus in order for us to keep this highly paid gig and keep our way of living"
Wife to Urban: "No problem"
 
#38      
Had that exact conversation last night at dinner. Came out the exact same way

Yup, and it wouldn't surprise me if she would have no obligation to incriminate her husband. And it may be, that none of the parties directly involved, including the woman who got attacked, want him to be. This is more about the social context of a major university in the #metoo era, and the outrage for how little accountability there has been historically.
 
#39      

KBLEE

Montgomery, IL
I have a co-worker who is a huge tOSU fan. He mentioned that Zach Smith is the grandson of Earl Bruce. I guess he was known to be a fairly mediocre coach and only had his job because of his grandfather's connections.
 
#40      
Have heard through some secondhand sources that things are not as clear cut as has been presented in the media so far. There are major credibility issues with both Courtney and Zach Smith. Many within the coaching staff and athletic department have known about their collective issues but it's never been clear as to what was fact and what was not. These sources believe Meyer will ultimately be hit with a 3-4 game suspension but will retain his job.

Take all that for what it's worth...I can't verify any of it but I trust these connections enough to pass along what they shared with me.
 
#41      

Dren1

Glenview, IL
I have a co-worker who is a huge tOSU fan. He mentioned that Zach Smith is the grandson of Earl Bruce. I guess he was known to be a fairly mediocre coach and only had his job because of his grandfather's connections.
This sounds like a bit of Monday morning quarterbacking to me. From the OSU website:

Zach Smith
Wide Receivers Coach / Recruiting Coordinator


Zach Smith is in his seventh season as wide receivers coach at Ohio State and he carries the additional responsibility of staff recruiting coordinator. The youngest member of the coaching staff has quickly established himself as a fine young football coach and one of the best recruiters in the nation.

Instrumental in the recruitment and signings of many key Buckeyes the past six years, Smith has received numerous accolades for these efforts, including being named the 2016 Scout.com Big Ten recruiter of the year, a 2015 and 2016 Rivals “top recruiter” and the 2014 Big Ten recruiter of the year by both Rivals and Scout.
 
#42      

Deleted member 631370

D
Guest
Have heard through some secondhand sources that things are not as clear cut as has been presented in the media so far. There are major credibility issues with both Courtney and Zach Smith. Many within the coaching staff and athletic department have known about their collective issues but it's never been clear as to what was fact and what was not. These sources believe Meyer will ultimately be hit with a 3-4 game suspension but will retain his job.

Take all that for what it's worth...I can't verify any of it but I trust these connections enough to pass along what they shared with me.

That is really Meyer's ticket out of this.

It's no longer tenable for him to claim that he never knew about any of this. At least it strains credulity, given the emergence of these text messages.

But what can be claimed (with some degree of plausibility, I suppose), however, is that the Meyers never really acted because the victim was a known exaggerator and they brushed off the allegations are hyperbole. It'll be deeply "regrettable", but it will shift the narrative from "cover up" to "misunderstanding". 3 game suspension. Lesson learned!
 
#43      

Deleted member 654622

D
Guest
Zach Smith
Wide Receivers Coach / Recruiting Coordinator


Zach Smith is in his seventh season as wide receivers coach at Ohio State and he carries the additional responsibility of staff recruiting coordinator. The youngest member of the coaching staff has quickly established himself as a fine young football coach and one of the best recruiters in the nation.

Instrumental in the recruitment and signings of many key Buckeyes the past six years, Smith has received numerous accolades for these efforts, including being named the 2016 Scout.com Big Ten recruiter of the year, a 2015 and 2016 Rivals “top recruiter” and the 2014 Big Ten recruiter of the year by both Rivals and Scout.

That's why he can get away with beating women. He is a great people person.....
 
#47      
The video is of actual players making the comments. Why does the messenger matter, unless we just want to register our political opinions? Yes, this is the same outfit that caught Planned Parenthood on video. Not sure why relevant...?

Even if it’s a video from a random YouTuber, who cares? Those are former players for Meyer, on camera. And the stories are as disturbing as Simon’s.
 
Last edited:
#48      
The video is of actual players making the comments. Why does the messenger matter, unless we just want to register our political opinions? Yes, this is the same outfit that caught Planned Parenthood on video. Not sure why relevant...?

Even if it’s a video from a random YouTuber, who cares? Those are former players for Meyer, on camera. And the stories are as disturbing than Simon’s.

They have a long history of deceiving their interview subjects and editing video in a dishonest way to advance a predetermined narrative.

Which is to say that these allegations deserve further follow up by OSU investigators and/or journalists to find the truth, not to just be ignored, but certainly not to be taken at face value either.
 
#49      
I guess I’m too cynical. I find many oft-cited outlets are guilty of manipulating information to fit their narratives, to put it mildly.

Some even do it to ‘advance their own careers,” even. I’m a journ grad with a long history of working in the field, and admit to being jaded by experience.

Agreed that it should be critically engaged and not ignored. If this the story is ignored because credible sources like, say, TMZ didn’t have it first, that would be unfortunate.
 
#50      
I guess I’m too cynical. I find many oft-cited outlets are guilty of manipulating information to fit their narratives, to put it mildly.

Some even do it to ‘advance their own careers,” even. I’m a journ grad with a long history of working in the field, and admit to being jaded by experience.

Agreed that it should be critically engaged and not ignored. If this the story is ignored because credible sources like, say, TMZ didn’t have it first, that would be unfortunate.

The guy released the video today and already on his Twitter feed he's poking ESPN as to why they're not covering his allegations. Self promotion, anyone?