I mean, let’s just cut to the chase today, shall we?
- Andy Staples has a nice, hoisted on his own petard take (“Urban Meyer has spent his career speaking in absolutes.”) on Corch’s situation.
- Brett McMurphy thinks it’s bullshit to believe Shelley Meyer didn’t tell her husband anything.
- Andrea Adelson brings it all back home: “A decade ago, Urban Meyer built a championship program at Florida, burnishing his reputation as one of the greatest coaches in the game despite his bringing in and keeping troubled players. Nobody really cared all that much. Florida football was rolling, and though the arrest reports kept growing, not one administrator came down on Meyer or the way he handled his players.”
- The legal issues surrounding Meyer suggest rather loudly that a settlement is likely in the works.
- I’m not a criminal defense attorney, but I don’t think I’m going out on a limb to believe that, generally speaking, “ZACH SMITH’S OTHER LAWYER WEIGHS IN” isn’t a good look.
- Leave it to Clay Travis to hammer at the real hot take concerning this mess.
- And Travis is wrong. Everybody knows that the only hot take that matters right now is “this whole situation is absolutely going to be used against the Buckeyes on the recruiting trail.”
**************************************************************************
UPDATE: The guys at Eleven Warriors do a great job. They’re also Ohio State loyalists. That’s how you get to a post devoted to hair splitting.
McMurphy claimed the text messages implicated Urban Meyer.
“In these text message conversations, it showed that Urban Meyer knew about this,” he told Van Pelt.
Later, however, when pressed by Van Pelt about evidence linking Meyer to knowledge of the allegations, McMurphy wavered.
“I do not have any direct evidence—any text messages from Urban Meyer who said he knew about it,” McMurphy said.
“I find it hard to believe that the same couple [Urban and Shelley Meyer] counseled in 2009—she has evidence, she knows of domestic violence in 2015, that they completely ignore it and they have no knowledge.”
Kinda puts a whole new spin on “he said, she said”, don’t it?
Get The Picture 
Have you ever seen such a prominent career come crashing down so quickly? I walked into a lunch meeting yesterday hearing nothing, only to walk out to breaking news re: Urban, to him being placed on leave a mere 4 hours later.
No chance he survives this.
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He will coach again. He’ll get his buyout, go underground, make the rounds of media penance, take the highest profile job that opens in ’19.
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LSU maybe?
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Excuse me while I shed a tear for Corch.
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My crystal ball says that Shelley will emit a carefully worded statement that, in the passive exonerative tense, asserts she didn’t confide the 2015 info to Corch. Ohio State will triumphantly seize on that statement to say that Corch didn’t lie (about that particular issue, anyway) and let him stay. But Corch will be on eggshells.
OTOH I know colleges love to cleanse their souls with a good PR enema, and this may be Ohio State’s chance. It’ll give ’em a chance to flush the wrestling coach stuff too.
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Eh, maybe. The thing is they already could have done that.
Besides the check, the positive from a settlement (from his standpoint) is that Meyer won’t have to say anything more than that he thinks it’s best to move on for Ohio State’s sake. He can then stay in the shadows for a year or two until some desperate program decides he’s rehabilitated and hires him.
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Auburn’s kicking itself for giving Gus that long term contract now.
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That won’t stop Auburn. If Gus has any kind of off season they’ll fire Gus, pay him the dough, then hire Irvin.
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That’s the first program I thought of. Gus better have a great season.
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That won’t work, as there are numerous threads among assistant coaches wives and their husbands. So you would need to literally get everyone to say that nobody told Urban and he didn’t know a thing. Good luck with that.
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Lance Armstrong thinks he can do it.
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Cry me a river, Corch. The Celebration ticked you off while you were supporting players like Chris Rainey and Aaron Hernandez and you looked the other way when Brandon Spikes eye-gouged Knowshon Moreno. You talked about the top 1% of the top 1% while a long-time assistant was abusing his wife. You talked about sticking together as a team when you appeared to feign an illness to “retire” when Nick Saban showed up.
I’m sure the people in Columbus will write you a nice check to say thanks for the natty and go away, but, if the facts are correct, they should fire your @$$ for cause and you should never wear a whistle on the sideline again.
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It was Washuan Ealey, but you’re right about everything else!
The amount of people who were complicit in all of this is truly disgusting. A bunch of cowards.
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Thanks for the editorial correction, RPF!
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Leaked footage from a Gator team meeting circa ’09.
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One of my all time favorite movie scenes.
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Urban Meyer should be banished to call 5 years of MAC games along side Spielman, and debating Rod Gilmore on College Football Live
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Our PR standards these days are pretty low. As a result, it is hard for me to see OSU wilting in the face of this storm – unless there’s other stuff brewing we don’t know about.
I mean, I would love to see Urbz shown the door, but is keeping UM really going to hurt OSU beyond the early August news cycle?
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If they canned Tressel, they can send Corch packing, too.
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There was NCAA leverage with Tressel, wasn’t there? Documented lies to OSU and NCAA investigators in his emails? Show cause pending?
They certainly can, and they certainly might. But I would be surprised. This is college athletics we are talking about. They’ll find a way to talk themselves into keeping him.
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Oh, Tressel lied to the NCAA, alright. But Bruce Pearl is living proof that’s not a career ender these days.
Not to mention tattoos aren’t in the same ballpark as spousal assault.
I dunno, maybe you’re right. But putting Meyer on administrative leave within hours of a story breaking that he might not have been straight in asserting his level of knowledge doesn’t strike me as a sign of confidence from OSU.
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Shelving Meyer for a week in early August while the news cycle moves on?
Am I too cynical?
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A week? This ain’t going away that fast. (Unless Meyer leaves, of course.)
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Yes.
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That’s my take on it too. I think the ahole will survive it; but it isn’t going to be good for “cruitin”!
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Let me first say the following… I can’t stand THE Ohio St. and I’m not real fond of Urban Cryer.
To me the more important story here is the media circus surrounding these allegations and the rush to judgement. We live in a shallow vacuous society where everyone feels it’s their right to act as judge, jury and executioner. IF, Coach Smith is guilty of domestic abuse and Urban Meyer did not follow documented policies and standards then the appropriate consequences should follow. In the mean time I’ll wait for the results of a full investigation before rendering a judgement. I use the Duke LaCrosse case as a guide when it comes to these types of stories.
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Since Smith isn’t facing criminal charges, looks like you’re home free to blame the lying bitch.
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DawgByte didn’t “blame the lying bitch” Senator. He just says he wants to see some real proof other than just innuendo before pronouncing judgment. That’s the responsible position that any professional person should take.
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Ah, so you’re telling me “I use the Duke LaCrosse case as a guide” doesn’t mean what I think it means. Thanks for the spin, Mayor.
The Duke situation was, at its heart, a story of abusive police power. It involved a charge of rape involving a prostitute. Smith, by contrast, isn’t about police abuse, and concerns actions that took place over the better part of a decade, not just a night or two.
Duke is what anti-BLM warriors turn to when they want to question the system because it ties neatly into their particular world view. However, sadly for DB, it’s got nothing to do with Meyer’s situation.
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I know “police power” falls under the same umbrella but it was more specifically an abusive prosecution by a soulless DA for political purposes. The uniqueness of that situation was that the abuse fell upon rich white kids with good lawyers. Usually it falls upon poor folks with idiot lawyers and we know nothing about it.
The reasons for BLM is an entirely different phenomenon in my opinion. What happened at Duke in the DA’s Office was cold, calculated and premeditated. What happens on the street is a product of dehumanization, by the police and the public, that’s been around for centuries.
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BLM is as much about what DAs and the courts tolerate with regard to police power abuse as the cops themselves who abuse. Not to mention power abuse by prosecutors themselves…
I keep saying it, but for those of you who don’t read Radley Balko’s work, it’s hard to appreciate how widespread this garbage is.
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+1 on the Rodney Balko rec. His stuff is eye-opening.
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I agree they’re intertwined, it’s just that they’re different problems.
The decision to use deadly force or de-escalate is made on the spot and in the moment. Hard wired biases are fueling those choices.
The decision to defend the bad choices and to prosecute innocent people for political reasons does emanate from the same “I’m the DA and I can do what ever I want and get away with it” perspective, but those are dispassionate choices that often don’t have the same race-based judgments. They are political in nature. What happens with police on the street is more psychological than political IMHO.
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T Greg Doucette, defense attorney up in Durham is another good source for the absurdity of this stuff. The two of them have also opened my eyes to the life changing impact criminal charges, however minor, can have on someone, even if they are completely innocent. Owning a car and having flexible hours at work, other than $$$, defending myself is easy enough. If I didn’t have a car, couldn’t take off work, and tacked on the legal fees as well, defending yourself while 100% innocent can be nearly impossible.
Taking a plea just to get on with life can be easier in the short term. I’m not a lawyer, but I’d never seen that side of the law until recently. Not sure there’s a better system than we have, but it sure ain’t perfect.
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Yup.
And it could be better.
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I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that James Oglethorpe banned slaves, liquor, and lawyers in the original Savannah colony charter. 😉 Sorry Senator…..
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+1 Radley Balko
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How on earth did you come up with “anti-BLM warriors” out of DawgByte’s comment? Granted, Duke Lacrosse and Urban’s case are poor comparisons, but I only gathered that he meant that people should not be so quickly prosecuted in the court of public opinion. That is all. Been reading you for years, am somewhat liberal myself, but damn……
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If that was the only comment of DB’s here at the blog, you’d have a point.
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Agree dudemankind. Wow Senator! That is a reach. Disappointed.
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Well, it wouldn’t be the first time.
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Nope definitely not. I have been a loyal reader for years and seldom comment but the way you attack commenters is disgusting. I’m out. Best of luck to you!
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Thanks, I think.
Why do people need to announce their departure from commenting on a blog?
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Thought you would want to know why you are losing a long time reader. If you don’t care, no worries.
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You’ve already told me my statement that “Duke is what anti-BLM warriors turn to when they want to question the system because it ties neatly into their particular world view” disgusts you. What does telling me you’re leaving add?
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I didn’t see DawgBite on that thread. Which one is he? On the other hand, Dog in Fla has GOT to be Don in Mar-i-lago. (sp?)
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It was actually your “Since Smith isn’t facing criminal charges, looks like you’re home free to blame the lying bitch” comment. Thanks!
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LOL. Don’t think that really changes the underlying point.
Tell me, are you only reading this comment thread and bypassing all the football posts today?
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“The Duke situation was, at its heart, a story of abusive police power” I appreciate how you could view it that way Senator but you are wrong . At it’s core the Duke Lacrosse case is about politicians pandering to the mob. Nifong was willing to send innocent young men to prison for life in order to get elected. The interface between politics and justice is almost always ugly but this wasn’t the police pushing this case this was a DA doing anything to get elected . Sorry just jumped in here. I see Derek has already made my point. As to your comment about multiple lawyers commenting looking bad in your opinion ….everyone here needs to know that if one has a domestic conflict it is very possible to end up in four separate courts for one incident. There will be a hearing in Magistrate Court on the TPO(Temporary protective order) ,State Court on misdemeanor domestic violence charges, Superior Court on the subsequent Divorce case and occasionally both parties are arrested and the kids taken into protective custody which has been known to end up in Juvenile Court. If you get the same lawyer to handle all those cases you are probably making a mistake.
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This is semantics. As I already commented, when I say police power, I’m talking about the entire criminal justice system — cops, prosecutors and judges.
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Blutarsky some times it’s better to sit one out instead of consistently confirming to the world that you’re a total dumbass.
The lessons learned from the Duke LaCrosse case are simple to comprehend if you have a brain – Innocent until proven guilty. The LaCrosse players were accused of rape and sexual assault by a female stripper. Those players were tried and convicted in the court of public opinion, fueled by irresponsible media reporting. Moreover, they were expeditiously expelled by Duke – again before they had an opportunity to prove their innocence. As it turns out the media was wrong, Duke was wrong and the stripper was lying. As the Mayor accurately perceived from my comments – it’s about getting to the whole truth instead of speculating on innuendo. A concept you seem incapable of grasping!
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Whatever blows your skirt up, pal.
If it’s all about innocent until proven guilty, you could have simply said that instead of going all Duke lacrosse scandal on us.
Then again, that would have muddled your message.
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Pictures of bruises, contemporaneous statements and repetition aren’t proof?
To me the issue is Urban’s culpability not Smith’s.
Was Urban required to act on the info? Could he have reasonably believed Smith’s denials? Could he believably say “no one showed me any pictures so I didn’t know what was true?” These seem to be the questions.
To me the first question is the most important. Did Urban have an obligation just because there was an allegation, true or false? If the answer is “yes” he be gone.
My first inclination was, since he wasn’t the abuser here, he’ll survive, but if he had to do something based on the mere allegation and chose not to that’s a big problem.
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I don’t think he’ll survive it either way, but I’m curious about the Title IX aspect. If the wife of a staff member tells someone responsible to report it that her husband abused her, does that fall under Title IX guidelines? We also have no idea what Ohio State’s internal policy is.
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Me neither. I will say that if “knowingly employing an alleged spousal abuser” becomes a fireable offense, that will be a seismic shift in this country.
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I don’t think it would be some sort of universal principle. You’d need something specific like this, where there’s a fairly large amount of evidence that it was covered up and allowed to continue with no real response by the manager.
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It states in CUM’s contract that he is obligated to report malfeasance by a university employee. His wife, as a RN and tOSU employee also, is required to report as well.
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I think this is a Title IX issue. Meyer had to report by law, and if he didn’t, tOSU likely doesn’t have a choice in the matter.
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“DawgByte didn’t blame the lying bitch, but I will!”
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Cheap shot. Says more about you than him.
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Apparently it’s okay for him to call me a social justice warrior — a phrase that’s loaded — but it’s a bridge too far for me to point out that he’s not a fan of BLM.
Some of you have interesting standards.
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Cheap shot.
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If you had to accuse me twice, it must be a cheap shot.
Seriously, Meyer’s already admitted he knew about the 2009 incident. As an employer, shouldn’t that have put him on high alert?
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I will rush to judgment to say that you’re an idiot.
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If Coach Smith is guilty? You’re not a juror in a criminal case. You’re not bound by admissible evidence. Exercise a little common sense. Everything indicates Smith hit her for years, and the texts strongly imply Urban knew about the 2015 incident at the very least.
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It’s especially remarkable we’re having this discussion here, because the fact that Smith abused his wife isn’t in question here. He did. Repeatedly. Which is why he’s been arrested in the past, why he has a restraining order against him now, and why Meyer finally was forced to fire him. The only debate is when did Urban Meyer know about it. But as usual, there are apologists here screaming “WON’T SOMEONE THINK OF THE MEN?!!!?
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The weird thing is that I’m sympathetic to the general point they’re trying to make, but pick your battles, guys.
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Here, here. He’s reaping his bitter harvest, past history is fairly prejudicial when it’s an obvious pattern of behavior.
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Maybe Corch could be a minor league baseball manager in Binghamton, NY? I’m sure Timmy would be happy to put a good word in for him.
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In the link about recruiting the author tries to draw parallels to what happened at Colorado and how McIntyre didn’t lose his job. There are big differences in how the HC handled it. McIntyre confronted the assistant AND reported it to the athletic department. His mistake was not suspending the assistant during the investigation. This allowed to McIntyre to apologize for not doing enough and taking a class on how to handle DV in the future.
Corch has been allowing this for 9 years and lied about it.
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Best take I read on this is that Corch has two former head coaches on his staff, but because of the baggage that they brought along (and Corch overlooked) tOSU is skipping them and going to an assistant to fill in as HC while Corch is in timeout.
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I suspect it’s a little more complicated. Ryan Day is well thought of and supposedly had some other programs looking at him this past offseason as head coaching material. This might be a good audition for both him and OSU.
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Call me cynical—no one’s ever accused me of that before, no sir!—but I think the availability of a competent replacement is what really decides the question of whether Urbz gets the boot. If tOSU administration determines from this “audition” that Ryan Day has what it takes to captain a heritage-rich, playoff-caliber P5 program, they’ll feel a lot more secure sending CUM on his way. But if they get the feeling that keeping CUM is the difference between a playoff slot and a trip to the TaxSlayer.com Bowl, I bet they construct some kind of ethical Rube Goldberg machine whereby they justify keeping him around. There are vanishingly few programs at the FCS level that I’d trust to put Doing The Right Thing above a W/L record like CUM’s, and I can’t say An Ohio State University qualifies.
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I don’t think they’ll wait that long. This will be resolved before the season starts. I’d guess he’ll be gone by next week sometime, but either way, they’ll be flying blind to some degree. It’ll be a lot like the Matt Luke situation at Ole Miss, only, you know, with an insanely talented roster.
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Tomorrow is Friday, you know.
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Agree, Hell, I could coach OSU with the talent they have, against the many cupcakes on their regular season schedule, and win 10 games this season.
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Nothing against Day, but the fact that the other two even have issues is a reflection on Corch. No way that wasn’t considered by tOSU. In the end, Day may still have been the best choice.
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Did Ryan Day know the abuse was taking place?
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Good question.
He’s only been there a year, so the odds are better that he doesn’t than other coaches… which, come to think about it, may be another reason he got the nod.
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I’m already seeing the #standwithurban hashtags. Makes me sick
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These are the same types that supported JoePa.
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…and want Briles back.
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And Trump–yes I went there 😉
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Yes, the perpetual 800lb gorilla in the room.
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I am no lover of Trump, but would you really have preferred a scandal plagued President with a first hubby who has more accusations and credible claims from rape down against him than OSU’s Smith, Trump, Lauer and Charlie Rose COMBINED in the White House?
Trump was the worst candidate – by far – of all the major party candidates except one! HRC.
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I’m gonna regret this, but . . .
. . . would you really have preferred a scandal plagued President with a first hubby who has more accusations and credible claims from rape down against him than OSU’s Smith, Trump, Lauer and Charlie Rose COMBINED in the White House?
As opposed to a scandal-plagued president who himself has attracted more accusations and credible claims of rape/sexual assault than blah blah etc. etc.?
Even as someone who finds Hillary about as energizing/inspiring as an iTunes user agreement, it’s not a difficult choice for me.
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Responding to the update, I’ve read elsewhere that the Smith ex-wife clearly says Shelley never told nor implied to her that Shelley told Corch or that Corch knew. Query are there any other sources that say or imply that Corch knew?
Nonetheless is still nice to see Corch twisting in the wind.
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Of course I wouldn’t be surprised if Corch ran out of the room in 2015 when Shelley said “Hon I ran into Courtney Smith today and . . .”
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Ha. I can actually picture that.
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That’s not quite accurate. She shared messages and recounted that Shelley told her “I have to tell Urban.” So it’s clear that Shelley told her she would tell Urban.
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Considering everything I’ve seen/heard or read about this situation and the Meyers, I think Shelley told Corch. HOWEVER, it is certainly possible that she didn’t tell him. It’s one thing to say, “I have to tell Urban” and actually following through after weighing all the possible implications. The reason I think Shelley told Urban is that I think she has higher character than he does.
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In fairness, a salamander has higher character than Urban Meyer.
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I wouldn’t be so quick to praise her character. She had an obligation to report the abuse as well, and she didn’t. And there’s only one reason why she wouldn’t have – didn’t want to upset the gravy train.
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Ergo, my initial reply to you. My instinct is to think she told Corch, but perhaps she didn’t want to derail the gravy train.
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That’s the point that I see as the opening to allow Urbz to slide through. At this time, there is a ton of innuendo that he should have known. And, to me, it is impossible that Shelley didn’t tell him. But, I have yet to see anything that proves he had knowledge. If that doesn’t exist or surface, I think Shelley takes the fall and Urbz moves forward at tOSU.
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I’m inclined to agree with this. The very next day after telling his family he was quitting coaching to spend more time with them (and hearing “I get my daddy back” from one of his daughters), Urbz dialed “quitting” back to “leave of absence” . . . and was back on the job less than three months later. Letting Shelley take the fall for this scandal so that he can keep coaching the Buckeyes would be a dick move of the most colossal order, but it’s entirely within CUM’s moral calculus.
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I believe there was a text from Shelley to the ex-wife stating “He (Urban) doesn’t know what to believe” or something to that effect, and this was in a series of texts between the ex-wife and Shelley discussing the abuse. The implication is that Urban had heard about the allegations either from his wife or from other coaches on the staff (or their wives).
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Good point, those texts actually indicated that Urban not only knew, but talked to Smith about the situation and essentially took his side of it.
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But if Smith denied, and Urban sees that a police investigation commenced and stopped, and perhaps is aware that both sets of the couples parents know…..what is the move ? It’s not like the abuse is an employer-employee situation (i’m in no way Okaying the underlying facts here)
Remember in real time that the mantra learned before this was “go to the police” (already happened). Couple that with the environment of Universities themselves being in hot water in usurping state law criminal investigation into sexual assault on campus+ the fact that the parties involved in this weren’t both within the campus envelope…… just saying i can see how in real time this might not have the most clear cut triggers of action.
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“Urban said Zach denied everything” I think was the quote from yesterday’s Facebook post. Yeah, she told him about it. He knew and he covered it up.
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#FINALLYDICKHEAD
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Urban Meyer is a horrible person. Clip at 11.
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Urban is getting shitcanned, and for a brief, fleeting moment at least, college football is a better place.
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I know some have speculated that CUM, if fired, will end up at Auburn and I do believe that is a possibility but let me postulated another hypothesis: Norte Dame. Urban has always really wanted to be the head coach in South Bend. He was an assistant under Lou Holts there. That is where he got his start and he has not been shy about saying that ND was his dream job. If CUM and tOSU part ways look for him to serve a year or two as an ESPN analyst then resurface as HC in South Bend.
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Notre Dame won’t touch him after this. They take their bullshit reputation too seriously for that. I’m not sure any major program but Auburn would.
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You may be right but an 81% winning percentage looks pretty good to a place like ND. Plus, ND is only “ holierthanthou”to a point. I can see ND in a couple of years using the redemption excuse to hire CUM.
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Yea they would need to package it as a redemption…which would work for both parties at least on the surface level-. Only a few will cater to the self delusion that it isn’t just a smokescreen to bring in more doubleyas.
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LSU
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Yea that crossed my mind first.
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I’ve seen a lot of mentions of Title IX implications regarding this, but I’m wondering if that applies in this case since the ex-wife wasn’t (to my knowledge) an employee or student at the university. Does anyone have any insight on that?
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I don’t think it’s ever been tested in court. I doubt Ohio State wants to be the guinea pig.
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If this woman went to the police, and there were no charges brought, meaning there was not “probable cause” (a very low standard) to make an arrest by the police, then what is the responsibility of private employers? Is every employer now required to do an investigation on their own and call witnesses? What if the employee denies it and the alleged victim won’t talk? Do they have to fire their employees without evidence? What is the burden or proof? What about DUI? What if there is a one night stand and the woman says she was drinking and couldn’t consent?
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So what you’re saying is that until there are charges brought, what’s an employer to do?
Jay Paterno heartily agrees.
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Yes. The Paterno situation is completely different because Penn St did knew of abuse and refused to go to the police. Here, this woman went to the police and they did nothing. Of course, you know that. If the employee denies it then, and there are no charges by trained law enforcement, are employers now required to do their own forensic investigation and under what standards should they fire people?
Try answering without a cheap shot or polemic.
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Sorry, Bill. I didn’t realize you were being critical of me in two different spots in this comment thread. I’ll ask you again what I posted above: Seriously, Meyer’s already admitted he knew about the 2009 incident. As an employer, shouldn’t that have put him on high alert?
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I meant the first one, not the second. Sorry.
I understand that Meyer looks the other way with his players, but if leaders are supposed to use this as a cautionary tale about dis-enabling bad employees lest the leader himself become a party to the crime, then why would a leader do anything but fire an employee based on allegations that can’t even meet low standards (like probable cause), especially when any investigation which might result in retaining the employee will be deemed a coverup, as here?
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I think Title IX imposes a due diligence requirement on schools, precisely so they can’t use a lack of action by the criminal justice system as an excuse. I’m not saying that’s a great idea, but when you consider the historical record of places like Tallahassee and Waco, it’s not hard to understand the sentiment.
I can’t believe I’m citing something Tony Barnhart said, but there’s a reason reducing these problems to matters of “he said, she said” is ineffective, because “he” is traditionally the one with the power in the relationship. And that’s the case here — notice how Meyer got folks to pressure her out of proceeding with charges in 2009 to protect him, and how he relied on that support to continue with bad behavior.
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Does anyone think that the local cops didn’t take into account the potential blowback for Ohio State in this case? And the fact that Urban sent his mentor/buddy or whatever to talk her out of pressing charges implies that he took it seriously enough in terms of sweeping it the rug to want it to go away. If she was just making up the story as he basically said in his now infamous comments at media days then why worry about it if the cops weren’t going to press charges?
I don’t always agree with you politically but this isn’t really about politics. These guys who want to give UM the benefit of the doubt or blame Courtney for not leaving, and assume that just because the cops didn’t follow through that she’s lying don’t seem to understand that they are part of the reason that more victims DON’T come forward. Not only are women scared of their abusers and often robbed of any self worth but they have to deal with people doubting them or blaming them.
Yeah. The Duke guys got hosed. And there are a few women out there who have probably made up allegations before. Believe me guys, the vast majority of abuse complaints aren’t made up and it’s a hell of a lot more common than you think. But because of a few public stories like the Duke thing there are people who bend over backwards to “not rush to judgement” and basically help enable abusers the same way that society always has. Seriously. If you have a wife, daughter, sister, mother, or any respect for women then think how you’d feel if it was one of them. Do a tiny bit of research and you might begin to understand how effed up the dynamics are in a abusive relationship. And Courtney not only had to worry about the embarrassment and doubt that most women have to deal with but also a state full of people who care more about football than an assistant coaches wife, not to mention people who just apparently think all women are out to get men.
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^^^conventional wisdom says you better believe it.
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I think something that’s getting overlooked in some of these comments (especially on the tOSU blogs) is that, as far as Urban Meyer’s career is concerned, it doesn’t really matter if the accusations of domestic violence are true or not. If the Title IX rules do apply here, then he’s required to report the accusation of domestic violence so that the proper authorities can investigate them. If the accusations turn out to be false, but he failed to report them, he’ll still get fired, right?
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Speaking of scumbags, I see where Art Briles is “jacked about coaching football in Italy”. I wonder if he’s just jacked about what he thinks will be more permissive views of sexual harassment there?
Oh, excuse me….”alleged” scumbag Art Briles. I mean, nobody went to jail so we don’t KNOW if anything actually happened, amirite?
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Does Urban Meyer have any responsibility here, or his wife.
Does not the OSU AD negotiate the coaches contracts, approves a hiring and also the firing for cause, and writes the checks.
So would not the abused wife not been aware of who Meyer was with regard to her husband [ie the relationship and coaching history], and would it not have been better or required by law / contract to have contacted the AD and OSU with regard to the matter[s].
Doubt if Meyer or any HC has final say in a hire or fire. Think not then go back and look at UT last late fall.
The association of a coaching staff appears to be a weak argument re a HC’s fault to act on an allegation. It would appear that law violation would have been the impetus for the coaches dismissal which is the normal course at UGA.
After all KS can not be on watch 24/7 with regard to contact of his player re domestic violence.
But if there is one instance. let’s all be quick to have him fired because after all some said something in the locker room, at practice, that the Coach may or may not have been totally privileged to.
I would rely on a police report, the AD / University policies, because they work in step. Dare say an AD office would be the first to be on the front line for action from an alleged or proven victim.
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Coach will be the next OC at Bammer
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I thought the threads I read on some ohio fan sites yesterday and today reflected a poor understanding of the issues facing the school officials, then I read the above, it is as bad…and cannot even stay on point. Too many flakes that cannot stay away from the many causes they support to understand what the initial discussion was about. I am sure Brother Soros is proud, confused and stupid is just the way he likes his sheep.
The one common thread that seems to be the most misunderstood is the decision facing the decision makers in Columbus is not being decided by our courts. It is a PR issue, and no one has to have video evidence, or text messages, between Shelly and Urban Meyer regarding the 2015 incident. Shelly knew, and she sleeps with Urban. Urban says they discuss everything, not just what to wear to social functions, but what plays to call on 3rd and 6. They went through the 2009 incident in Gainesville together. This predator works directly for Urban, allowing him to remain on the staff would not only bring embarrassment to Urban, it could cost them a gazillion dollars if he didn’t address it.
All ten assistant coaches’ wives knew about 2015’s incident. Would you say that nearly everyone of them discussed with their husbands that one of their “teammates” was beating the shit out of their friend? If so, the group size is now up to 21 people that knew a rogue was among them, and not only inflicting damage to their friend Courtney, jeopardizing their livelihood. That is no small thing to an assistant coach who doesn’t have millions in the bank. Do you think at least a few of them would want their boss to know? They all knew how disgraceful Smith was as a human being, they also knew what had happened at State College and Waco when things were not addressed. Look how many went down for this (including Shiano himself!)
So if you have any “reasonable doubt” that Meyer knew of the 2015 incident…you are not a reasonable thinker. There is no doubt in the mind of the non-Millennial Buckeye fan in the general public, and there shouldn’t be. You have all the evidence you need to know about how Urban feels about upsetting his own apple cart just to protect some woman don’t you? The incident regarding Chris “Time to DIe Bitch” Rainey does ring a bell doesn’t it? They will make this decision soon, keeping Urban puts a spotlight on them every time they play on TV, he simply isn’t worth it.
The Title IX regulations are pretty clear, and they have a much lower bar of proof before taking action. Urban knew, and they know he knew. The time for playing games with this type of cover-up is long gone. Next man up.
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Mac, one thing — I’ve done some more reading on this, too, and I’m not sure Title IX applies. Courtney herself isn’t the subject of Title IX.
What does apply are the terms of Meyer’s contract, which explicitly require him to report incidents of domestic abuse.
I think the bottom line question is whether he’s prepared to throw his wife under the bus to save his ass.
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I feel Title IX does apply, but I doubt this situation gets that far down the road as the administration cannot wait long enough for an investigation, the fire is too hot. If nothing else, the fear of Title IX may cause them to negotiate a settlement. This is going to cost OSU a few million since the “need for speed” will mean they might not be able to fire Urbie for cause. The language in his new contract could give them a base of strength, but I doubt they want to have a dragged out battle with Meyer’s lawyers.
While Courtney Smith, herself, isn’t the subject of Title IX, ZS is because he was an employee at the time in 2015. His history of domestic violence, added to the 2015 incident, makes him a person who contributes to an unsafe atmosphere for women on campus. Much like the Sandusky situation, having him roaming the campus of State College for an additional 15 years or so was one of the reckless consequences that factored into the, deservedly, harsh judgements that drove the actions against those guilty of the cover up. I think the same rationale will be involved here, and why it cannot be ignored. The non-action by Meyer, and his wife, is negligence that cannot be ignored in the glare of the national spotlight. Maybe 20 years ago, and even 5 years ago, but not in 2018.
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