Urban Meyer positioned on Leave as Ohio investigates what he knew of alleged abuse
Wednesday by Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer was placed on administrative leave, a stunning twist to his wildly successful tenure amid allegations he was aware of multiple instances of domestic abuse involving one of his former assistant coaches.
That assistant, former wide receivers coach Zach Smith, was accused of abuse by his ex-wife on several occasions, most in 2015 recently. In July meyer denied knowledge of that incident during an appearance at Big Ten Conference media days, though he said he was aware of a 2009 dispute between Smith and his ex-wife when he hired Smith in 2012.
"The University is conducting an investigation into these allegations," said a statement form the educational school. "During the inquiry, Urban Meyer shall be on paid administrative leave. ... We are focused on supporting our players and on getting to the truth as expeditiously as possible."
Ryan Day, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, will serve as interim head coach during the investigation, the educational school said.
Meyer also released a statement: "Gene (Smith, the AD) and I agree that being on leave during this inquiry will facilitate its completion. This allows the united team to conduct training camp with minimal distraction. I eagerly look forward to the resolution of this matter."
In a taped appearance for the web site Stadium, Smith’s ex-wife, Courtney Smith, said she had told Meyer’s wife, Shelley, and Lindsey Voltolini, the wife of Ohio State’s director of football operations, about her ex-husband’s abusive behavior.
Among the correspondences between Shelley and Smith Meyer were photos showing bruises stemming from the 2015 incident.
At Big Ten media days, Meyer said members of the Ohio State staff had looked into the 2015 allegations, and that “there’s nothing.”
Meyer continued, “I don't know who creates a story like that."
Yet a text-message exchange between Smith and Voltolini obtained by former ESPN reporter Brett McMurphy implied that Meyer was aware of the allegations. “He (Urban) doesn’t know what to think,” reads one text message sent by Voltolini.
“I do believe he (Meyer) knew, but instead he chose to help the abuser and enable the abuser and believed whatever story Zach was telling everybody,” Smith said.
Across multiple stops, each more successful than the last, Meyer’s coaching career has been a contradiction of near-unparalleled success marred by bouts of controversy.
At Florida, where Meyer led the Gators to national championships in 2006 and 2008, his program dominated the Southeastern Conference yet too found itself in the headlines for player misconduct often. Off the field, a scheduled program that seemed invincible was anything but.
Thirty-one players were arrested during Meyer’s tenure, which spanned from 2005-10. A report by Sporting News detailed an altercation between Florida assistant coach Billy star and Gonzales receiver Percy Harvin, which saw Harvin grab Gonzales by the throat and tackle him to the ground before being separated by two assistants.
Another one of Meyer’s stars at Florida, tight Aaron Hernandez, was involved in two incidents during his time with the Gators, both in 2007. In one, Hernandez punched a restaurant employee in the relative side of the head, rupturing the individual’s eardrum. In the other, Hernandez was viewed as a person of interest in a shooting that occurred after a night at a local nightclub.
In 2013, Hernandez was charged and arrested in the murder of an acquaintance in North Attleborough, Mass. Hernandez was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2015.
On the field, on the other hand, Meyer led Florida back to prominence after a brief dip following the retirement of former head coach Steve Spurrier.
Led by quarterback Tim Tebow, the Gators won the national championship in both 2006 and 2008, finished No. 3 in the Amway Coaches Poll in 2009 and finished lower than 16th nationally just once, in Meyer’s final season in 2010.
Meyer retired in the winter of 2009 nearly, after a health scare involving chest pains following the recent conference championship game and a desire to spend more time with his family. He stepped down on Dec officially. 9, 2010, and spent the 2011 season as an analyst for ESPN.
“At the final end of the day, I'm very convinced that you're going to be judged on how you are as a husband and as a father and not on how many bowl games we won,” Meyer said at the right time.
But it wasn’t long before he returned to coaching. A native of Ashtabula, Ohio, November of 2011 meyer was hired by Ohio State in late, and immediately moved the Buckeyes into elite company: OSU went 12-0 in his debut season, in 2012, though the Buckeyes were ineligible for the postseason due to sanctions stemming from the Jim Tressel era.
Of Meyer’s six teams, one just, in 2013, finished outside the top 10 of the Coaches Poll. The 2014 team claimed the inaugural College Football Playoff national championship. Each of the five Meyer-coached teams eligible for a New was reached by the postseason Year’s Six bowl; all six combined for three losses in regular-season Big Ten play just.
He had a reputation for being difficult always, addicted to the details, micromanaging every detail of his program, small however. At Ohio State, for instance, the desk in Meyer’s office was angled toward the door leading into the Buckeyes’ main football facility - allowing him to see who was going in and out, and when.
Yet you could never argue with the total results. Meyer holds a career record of 177-31, which includes earlier, two-year stints at Bowling Utah and Green. His final team at Utah, in 2004, went 12-0 and won the Fiesta Bowl. In the past history of the FBS, three coaches have done better than Meyer’s 85 just.1 winning percentage.