Where Does Ohio State Go From Here?

Well, that was odd.

One of the strangest days in recent Ohio State football history capped one of the strangest months in Ohio State football history, ending with a three-game suspension for Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer.

Depending on whom you talk to, it was either a slap on the wrist or completely undeserved.

As with most things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Urban Meyer (WPLG)

By now everyone knows all of the sordid details of this saga, the back and forth social media journalism rivalries that uncovered nugget after nugget – most having nothing to do with anything, but lapped up just the same.

The investigative committee charged with sorting out this mess was about as thorough as could be expected, especially given the fact they worked under the confines of a self-imposed 14-day deadline. They talked to numerous people, including Meyer, athletic director Gene Smith, former receivers coach Zach Smith, his ex-wife Courtney Smith, as well as examined text messages and emails. Their conclusions were that Meyer did not violate any contractual policies but did mismanage his handling of Zach Smith, allowing him to stay on staff despite numerous red flags.

The result determined by Ohio State was a three-game suspension without pay, which means Meyer won’t be around the team at all until after Sept. 2^nd and won’t coach until after TCU and won’t receiver any money until Sept. 16^th. That nearly five weeks of salary, or roughly $580,000. I don’t care how much you make, that’s not pocket change. 

There were definitely some troubling things uncovered by the committee – the fact that Meyer’s phone appeared to be devoid of text messages older than a year, not coincidentally around the same time a staffer told him that the phone’s settings could be adjusted to get rid of messages older than one year. The committee could not PROVE that Meyer did anything shady in that aspect, but it does seem odd that it was talked about prior and then shown to have captured messages a year old or newer.

Also troubling was the committee’s determination that “We learned that coach Meyer sometimes had significant memory issues in other situations where he had prior extensive knowledge of events.” The issues were attributed to medication Meyer takes, which sometimes impairs his memory and focus. Even taking the committee at its word, this one seems a bit hard to swallow.

And then there’s Zach Smith.

Where to start? 

There were financial issues, an OVI (which he never informed Meyer about), an affair with a staffer, sex toys ordered and delivered to the offices at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. In short, a ton of reasons why Smith could have been fired and no one would have batted an eye. There were also the domestic claims, though only an incident in 2009 while an assistant at Florida under Meyer has been confirmed by all parties. Meyer repeatedly talked to Smith about his behavior, warning him that if it happened again he would be fired. But he never did, and that’s concerning. Did he keep him on because he was a top recruiter? Because the receivers seemed to play hard for him? Because he was Earle Bruce’s grandson, and Bruce was the man who helped Meyer break into the coaching profession?

Probably all of the above.

While loyalty is to be commended, at some point you have to take a step back and ask yourself if it’s worth it. Is the stain on your reputation and that of your university worth keeping such a troubled guy on staff? 

Meyer apparently thought so, at least until Smith violated protection order. At that point he was fired. That was on July 23^rd. The next morning a story by Brett McMurphy ran alleging that Smith had been arrested for domestic violence (which was untrue), and Meyer was asked at the Big Ten Media Days, “the 2015 reported incident … are you saying you don’t know anything about that, or do you believe that didn’t happen?” Meyer said, “I can’t say it didn’t happen because I wasn’t there. I was never told about anything, never anything came to light, I’ve never had a conversation about it. So I know nothing about that.”

He then doubled down – a crucial mistake – and uttered the infamous “There’s nothing. I don’t know who creates a story like that.”

The committee said it accepted that Meyer was “deeply absorbed” in football season and wanted to focus on football on that day. They kind of gave him a pass, saying he misspoke, but that reasons were complex, and that in their view, Meyer did not deliberately lie. He definitely came off looking bad, and should have said something to the effect of “we have let Zach Smith go due to an accumulation of things.” If asked to expand upon that, about the domestic violence incident specifically, he could have said he was aware of it, did what he was obligated to do and didn’t want to talk any further about it as it was a personnel matter. But he didn’t.

Urban Meyer (NewsOK)

He had a second chance, a chance to make it right, at the end of the August 22^nd press conference. He was asked what he would say to Courtney Smith. His response was that he was “sorry we are in this situation.” It was obvious he did not believe her, and maybe he had reason not to. There were never charges, and the committee even hinted that no incident could be confirmed in 2015, referring to it throughout the report as “allegations.” The facts at hand can be debated, but his statement cannot be. In a situation like that one, even if you’re skeptical, be a bigger man and show some remorse for the victim. Don’t come off like a petulant kid, because that’s what you looked like.

All of those things can be examined up, down and sideways, and different people will have different feelings.

What cannot be disputed is that Meyer acted properly in reporting his concerns about Zach Smith to his superiors. The committee said as much, though added he should have done more and gone to Compliance. That seems odd, considering Compliance has no jurisdiction over these kinds of matters. Compliance deals with Title IX and NCAA violations, and this was neither.

The committee concluded the following:

“Although neither Urban Meyer nor Gene Smith condoned or covered up the alleged domestic abuse by Zach Smith, they failed to take sufficient management action relating to Zach Smith’s misconduct and retained an Assistant Coach who was not performing as an appropriate role model for OSU student-athletes. Permitting such misconduct to continue is not consistent with the values of the University and reflects poorly on Coach Meyer, Athletic Director Smith, and the University.”

So if Meyer did not violate his contract, he could not be fired – at least not with cause. OSU could have terminated him without cause, but would have owed him $38 million in the process. That’s a hefty price to pay someone to go away. The committee did chide him for his handling of Smith, of keeping him on staff despite repeated missteps, which is more than fair. Thus, the suspension.

If naysayers want to cast aspersions on the committee or on Ohio State, that’s a they problem, not an Urban Meyer problem. People don’t get to choose their version of reality, though they often do. Quick rushes to judgement, even if the facts prove otherwise. They will stick to their original ideas and blast the process, or ignore them altogether. If people want to throw shade at Meyer, that’s fine – as long as they have something to back their argument.

We’ve seen this recently – the misguided Tennessee fans who torpedoed Greg Schiano’s hire because they believed that he was tied to the Jerry Sandusky pedophile scandal at Penn State, even if no tangible evidence of that exists. They got vocal and UT backed away, ultimately hiring Jeremy Pruitt away from Alabama. 

The fact that this whole thing has devolved into a soap opera, a fencing match of dodge and parry statements, is sad. Prurient reports about things have nothing to do with the investigation are released just a reporter can stay relevant. That’s where journalism has gone. 

Even though Meyer was retained, there are no winners here, at least not in the short term. 

OSU will take a PR hit nationally, though that doesn’t bother me too much because local approval matters much more than anything the outsiders say. The only way it becomes an issue is if recruiting suffers, and at the moment that does not appear to be the case. 

Journalism hasn’t won because it has sunk to the lowest common denominator, with a few exceptions. 

Fans haven’t won because they’ve been painted with a broad brush.

The sport hasn’t won because too many people have been talking about off-field issues instead of battles for the starting quarterback job.

All of that said, at least the situation is no longer a distraction. The Buckeyes and Meyer know where they stand and can begin planning for the season.

It will be interesting to see not only how the Buckeyes play in week 4 vs Tulane, but how Meyer comports himself going forward. While the press conference was botched – twice, in fact – there is a real chance to shape a new legacy, to make people forget about this blip in time.

He’s remade himself once before. Can he do it again?

For the sake of his career, he will have to.