Ohio State suspends coach Urban Meyer, AD Gene Smith

[Omaha Steve]

Source: ESPN

Dan Murphy 1:42 AM CT

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State on Wednesday night suspended head football coach Urban Meyer for the first three games of this season after a two-week investigation found that he mishandled domestic assault allegations made against former Buckeyes assistant coach Zach Smith and misrepresented what he knew about the situation in a public statement in July.

Meyer was suspended without pay and banned from interacting with the football team through Sept. 2. He can rejoin the team at that point, but he will not be able to coach in games against Oregon State, Rutgers and No. 16 TCU.

Meyer said Wednesday his allegiance to former mentor and Buckeyes coach Earle Bruce, Zach Smith's grandfather, clouded his judgment and caused him to miss red flags about the former assistant's behavior.

"I followed my heart and not my head," Meyer said in a news conference. "... I gave Zach Smith the benefit of the doubt."

FULL story at link below.

Read more: http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/24449427/ohio-state-suspends-coach-urban-meyer-ad-gene-smith

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Winning at all cost at Ohio State?

[SallyHemmings]

1. I wish I was surprised

[George II]

2. And he had to go to bed without any ice cream. Go Buckeyes!

[Trust Buster]

3. The suspension is undeserving. Urban Meyer did absolutely nothing wrong. Total shame.

[watoos]

4. Yeah, I agree

The first thing an innocent man does is ask how to delete text messages from his phone. Do I need the sarcasm thingy?

[Trust Buster]

5. There was zero evidence of domestic violence.

[watoos]

6. Did you even read the above thread?

Meyer said Wednesday his allegiance to former mentor and Buckeyes coach Earle Bruce, Zach Smith's grandfather, clouded his judgment and caused him to miss red flags about the former assistant's behavior.

"I followed my heart and not my head," Meyer said in a news conference. "... I gave Zach Smith the benefit of the doubt."

So, according to you, Urbie will probably fight his suspension since nothing happened?

[Trust Buster]

8. The wife called the police to their house many times. The police concluded each time that there

Was no evidence of domestic abuse. The mother of the wife is on the record claiming that her own daughter has emotional issues. Urban Meyer is not a sheriff, he’s not a prosecutor and he is not a marriage counselor - He is a football coach. The university suspended him for 3 games for purely PR reasons. This is a disgrace IMO.

[DownriverDem]

12. Trying

too hared trust.

[Trust Buster]

13. Citing the lack of evidence is easy, not hard. A baseless accusation is too easy IMO.

[watoos]

15. Poor victim Urbie

deleted the evidence from his phone. It was the first question he asked a friend when the scandal broke, "how do I delete my texts?" If there was nothing to hide and Urbie is just a victim why the need to delete?

[Trust Buster]

16. Do you have evidence of domestic abuse to share with the authorities ?

[blueinredohio]

7. He should have been fired.

To prove this will not be tolerated.

[Trust Buster]

9. There was no "this". Police determined each time that there was no evidence of domestic violence.

[DownriverDem]

11. Huh?

Are you sticking up for them? Why?

[Trust Buster]

14. Because the police determined that there was no evidence of domestic abuse.

[LanternWaste]

20. More likely, just another fan of the local collegiate football program

Righteously alleging he's a righteous man, and any consequences he's met with are purely PR reasons (ironically , alleged w/o any evidence to support it by someone who's telling others "show evidence&quot .

Rah-rah, go team! Go!

[Trust Buster]

23. Due process is what this country is about. You are in the minority on that count.

[blueinredohio]

25. He admitted he knew about it.

[DownriverDem]

10. Bull

Meyer should be fired. Sorry, but we here in Michigan are very glad when anything happens to hurt Ohio State.

[Trust Buster]

17. Yes, unfairly destroy a man's reputation and career because Michigan can't beat OSU with talent.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

18. Of course he should! 😏

2462 Days Since ttun beat the Buckeyes!

[watoos]

19. Poor victim Urbie

By the way, his apology reminded me of a 5 year old boy apologizing to his sister because his mom made him.

Yeah quite the punishment, Urbie is only totally suspended from the first game, he is allowed to do everything, attend practices, do the game plan for Rutgers and TCU, he just isn't allowed to attend the games.

[Leftofinsane]

21. He lied

when he left University of Florida. So no surprise.

[Power 2 the People]

22. And he never apologized to Courtney Smith in his press conference

Tone deaf.

[Trust Buster]

24. He did nothing to her to apologize for.

[Power 2 the People]

27. I guess Urban finally came around.

[link:http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/24467082/urban-meyer-ohio-state-buckeyes-issues-apology-courtney-smith|]

[stonecutter357]

26. Disgusting !