This is the beginning of the end for Urban Meyer. Last night the news finally dropped that Meyer would only be suspended for a grand total of 3 games. After watching seeing his apology to the University of Ohio State (NOT to Courtney Smith, the victim of former Ohio State Coach Zach Smith's abuse) I'm fully convinced that Urban Meyer has learned nothing from this.
In case you don't know what's going on with this whole fiasco, I'll catch you up, but for a full report from the person who broke the story, you can go here. This story goes as far back as 2009, when Meyer was still coaching at the University of Florida. On June 21st, 2009 Urban Meyer and his wife host a party after winning another national championship. After the party was over Courtney Smith returned home, but Zach Smith elected to stay out and continue to drink. He returned home at approximately 3 a.m. with Meyer's secretary, Amy Nicol, who at the time Zach Smith referred to as "baby."
After Smith's wife refused to allow Ms. Nicol to stay with them for the night and drove her home, she returned to an intense argument with her husband, Zach Smith. On their one year anniversary, Smith grabbed her by her shirt, and proceeded to slam her against the wall, according to the police report. Courtney Smith was approximately 8-10 weeks into pregnancy at the time. During the Big 10 media days this summer, Meyer suggested that him and his wife had offered counseling and help to the couple in the past. He then went on to say
"As I do many times like most coaches and people in leadership positions, you receive a phone call- The first thing you do is tell your boss, let the experts do their jobs."
When asked whether or not there would be an investigation into the situation:
"We're certainly not going to investigate. It came back to me that what was reported wasn't actually what happened."
In just a matter of days after the incident, Hiram De Fries, and Earle Bruce paid a visit to Courtney Smith. They asked her to drop the charges that were pressed on Zach Smith. De Fries is Meyer's "life-coach" and Bruce was Zach Smith's grandfather, and also a role model to Meyer, who has said multiple times that Bruce was like a father figure to him.
At the time Bruce was living in Ohio still. Bruce, and Zach Smith's mother drove from Ohio to Gainesville to ask Courtney to drop the charges that were pressed on Zach Smith.
de Fries had requested to meet with Courtney Smith later that day at a Panera bread between the two of them. de Fries and Meyer's relationship dates back to Meyer's days at Colorado State in the 90's. Meyer has referenced de Fries as someone who is like an uncle, and is his "chemistry coach". de Fries official title is "Assistant to the Head Coach".
To Courtney's chagrin, she was convinced by de Fries to drop the charges at the time. de Fries pressured her to do so and told her that it was unlikely to happen again, and if she didn't he would never be able to coach again.
How we all wish that meeting never happened.
After Meyer left The University of Florida Smith and Meyer parted ways for a time. When Meyer was hired by Ohio State to coach their football team, they were reunited once more.
Meyer said he "[knew] what kind of quality coach he was going to get out of Zach." having worked with him for five years at Florida.
What a quality coach indeed, Urban. Speaks VOLUMES of your character.
On March 23rd, 2012, the Smiths had their 2nd child, which is when Courtney Smith said things began to spiral out of control. Courtney Smith says there were too many incidents of abuse physically for her to recall. Courtney said she left Smith in June of 2015, however, the incidents, abuse, and harassment continued including what happened on October 25th, 2015, and November 9th, 2015.
When Brett McMurphy originally reported the October 25th, 2015 incident, the police report indicated that Zach Smith had been arrested that night in a box that was checked. AFTER McMurphy reported the incident, the Powell Police Department revised the police report, unchecking the box that indicated Zach Smith had been arrested that night.
Before I go any further, may I just say...HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.
When they revised the report, the Communications Director of the Powell Police Department had this to say.
"The terminology used by the Police Department was different in the original report (dated 10/26/2015) and inconsistent with what actually occurred,"
However, that same report also stated this:
"The victim reports that a domestic incident happened last night at (Courtney's) home and that she has been a victim of sustained physical abuse by the suspect."
On November 10, 2015, Courtney got a restraining order on Smith, and two days later, November 12, 2015, she filed for divorce from Smith.
On November 23rd, 2015, Zach Smith's attorney had the documents on the divorce sealed ex parte through a decision with the judge of Delaware county so as to protect and cover up any possibility of scandalous activity by Smith. This was not cleared by Courtney Smith's attorney, as an ex parte request only requires the Judge to make a decision with only one party of a controversy being present.
The only people aware of what exactly Courtney Smith was enduring were the Authorities, family members, and staff members of the Ohio State football program, and their wives. The buck should have stopped six years ago at this point.
When asked why nothing was done, Courtney explained :
"Everyone was out to protect themselves. Zach had people that were far more powerful than I would ever be that were protecting him and for the wrong reasons. I think people that knew (about the abuse) should have helped me. Instead, they chose to enable an abuser."
In the month and days leading up to Courtney filing for divorce, Zach Smith was sending very disturbing, and terroristically threatening messages to Courtney about her collaborating with other wives of Staff members on the team, and how he was going to attack anyone she was with. The exact messages are extremely disturbing.
Anyways, yesterday August 22nd, 2018 after the two-week investigation led by Ohio State they have found that Urban Meyer should serve a 3 game suspension, in which he will still be allowed to coach the team during the week, but not during the football games they have during that time.
What a joke.
Meyer's statement last night reflects the image of a man who is beaten down, and tired. He failed to apologize to the one person who this has affected and traumatized more than anyone. He failed to recognize that the heart of this issue wasn't him being suspended because they might lose football games. This was an issue of someone covering up a controversy for years, playing coy as if nothing happened all at the expense of someone's safety just so we can keep the grandson of the coach he has always admired. Absolutely Pathetic.
Let it be known that this IS the END of Urban Meyer as we know it. If you think otherwise you need to deeply reconsider your line of logic. This issue is going to follow Meyer all the way to the grave and his way out of the door at Ohio State. This is not a matter of if he will be eventually fired, but when. Any hint of him slipping, and the University of Ohio State will not hesitate to pull their trigger on firing him. So long as Urban Meyer is in the public spotlight, this mess will be questioned as well. No journalists will let up on this, because his failure to recognize the bigger picture and issue is still quite clear. If he thought he was having health problems while he was at Florida, then he hasn't seen anything yet.
It may not be today or tomorrow, but justice WILL be served on a hot steaming plate presented by the free press for Meyer. Regardless of how many Buckeye fans will deny for the sake of bottling their cognitive dissonance charged like a stick of dynamite for the future. Make no mistake, when Urban Meyer is fired and gone from Ohio State there will be no team to hire him. No University wants someone who will conceal an abuser for the sake of winning, and because he happens to be the grandson of your idol.
