On Wednesday night Ohio State officials held a press conference to announce the findings and subsequent punishment from it's investigation into the allegations of domestic violence of former assistant Zach Smith, and Urban Meyer's knowledge and handling of the situation. Officials announced that Urban Meyer would be suspended for the first three games. And that Athletic Director Gene Smith would be suspended from 8/31- 9/16. Urban Meyer from what I understand will be able to coach during the week of practice just not at the games.
Ohio State released their summary of findings from the investigation. From their findings they said:
Weighing all of the evidence available to us, including Coach Meyer’s answers and demeanor when questioned during the Independent Investigation, we find, first, that Coach Meyer, at Big Ten Media Days, misstated his lack of knowledge of all relevant events regarding alleged domestic violence by Zach Smith in 2015. Second, although it is a close question and we cannot rule out that Coach Meyer was intentionally misleading in his answers, we do not ultimately find that he was. He clearly misspoke and made misstatements, but the reasons that happened are complex. Coach Meyer did not, in our view, deliberately lie.
So although he misspoke and made misstatements, they don't think Urban deliberately lied. Or they are at least giving him some lea-way.
Another interesting finding of the report:
In the course of our review, as the factual discussion in this summary reflects, we identified a pattern of troubling behavior by Zach Smith: promiscuous and embarrassing sexual behavior, drug abuse, truancy, dishonesty, financial irresponsibility, a possible NCAA violation, and a lengthy police investigation into allegations of criminal domestic violence and cybercrimes. Repeatedly, Zach Smith’s conduct was met with reprimands and warnings by Coach Meyer, but never a written report, never an investigation and no disciplinary action until July 23, 2018. While we do not doubt that Coach Meyer respects women and is dedicated to fostering an environment of respect for women in his program, his apparent blind spot for Zach Smith seems to have impaired his judgment and his management of the behavior of at least one of his assistants.
Very interesting finds, and brings up more questions about Zach Smith.
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