What Happened

This case begins all the way back in 2015. Zach Smith, former wide receivers coach at Ohio State was fired in July due to allegedly domestically abusing his former wife, Courtney Smith.

Smith had previously been under fire in 2009 for shoving his wife, who was pregnant, against a wall;he was arrested but Courtney decided not to press charges. Urban and Shelley Meyer counseled them after this case.

Leading to the firing of Zach Smith, his ex-wife, Courtney Smith, publicly alleged Zach Smith of domestically abusing her. He was fired on July 23.

In a press conference, Urban Meyer denied knowing of the alleged abuse against his former colleague.

That all changed when Courtney Smith publicly announced information about who knew about this domestic violence. Screenshotted texts show that Courtney alerted other OSU coaches’ wives about the abuse.

Among those wives, there was Shelley Meyer, Urban’s wife. In evidence presented by Brett McMurphy, Shelley responded in a text saying that she would have to tell Urban.

In an interview Courtney stated,”Shelley said she was going to have to tell Urban.” Courtney responded to her saying,”That’s fine, you should tell Urban.”

Would Shelley really not tell Urban after being married for 29 years? It would be odd for Shelley to ignore this and for Urban to have no knowledge of the case after they counseled this couple (evidence by Brett McMurphy.)

Ohio State took notice of this and this lead to further investigation. Following these events, Urban Meyer was placed on paid administrative leave. Due to the texts of Shelley Meyer saying she would tell Urban, and Courtney Smith’s public speaking about Urban knowing, he was suspended for three games.

The Buckeye’s offensive coordinator, Ryan Day, will fill in as head coach until the suspension expires. Meyer will miss the season opener against Oregon State and the following games against Rutgers University and Texas Christian University (TCU.)