I have not read all 225 comments, but I would like to hazard an observation: there seem to be a number of people defending Meyer (and Smith?) with reference to his duty to report Smith's domestic violence record.
But, if we put all that aside, there remains the fact that Mr. Smith was a drug abusing failure at his job. Nonetheless, Meyer retained Smith and gave him huge raises. Why? Some old boys friendship relation. Does anyone want to defend that?
14
Another case of too big to fail.
6
Meyer is a liar and a coward. With the millions he makes and brings to the university perhaps a donation to a shelter for victims of domestic violence would have spoken volumes about his concern, but that presupposes he has some compassion for victims of domestic violence. He did was he has done for years, absolutely nothing.
6
A member of my family in Cincinnati just went off to OSU for her freshwoman year and says she has some fine teachers! But OSU is like another country whose politics we don't like, but who are we to judge . . . since nothing else is true and honest in the U. S. these days. In my favorite make-believe university, there would be NO big-time, big-money sports at all. I'd beef up the sandlot teams and and play-for-fun-and-exercise fields for all students and staff, and the coordinator could be paid a tenth of Meyer's salary and be happy with her job! marthastephens.wordpress.com
8
Fire them all!
9
This obsession with treating these men like gods when college players are living on ramen is frankly obscene.
10
When you are in a position of Authority and information comes to you related to your organiztion You have an Obligation to report it. Meyer did exactly what Joe Pa did which was keep quiet and Protect the institution. Meyer will probably ride this out, OSU wants him too much. Winning football is Big Money. Yep it always come back to Money.
9
Of you really wanted to send a message, take Urban Meyer out for one game, Michigan!
4
I don't know what punishment would have been appropriate for Urban Meyer, but tar, feathers and a rail come to mind.
See RevolutionOfReason.com
4
Not to be rude but look at the crime stats and headlines. 99% of the time MEN are the problem. We must do a better job socializing our boys.
The wars, crime, rape blah blah....
11
The only thing Urban Meyer missed was a visit to his own conscience, everything else is a lame, made up, excuse. Heart medication caused a memory lapse? Right. He knows what play to call on 4th down at Michigan.
13
All of this for football. It's sickening.
13
When Jim Tressel left and people celebrated Meyer's arrival, all I could think was nothing had changed and the system remained rotten - case proved. And how does Gene Smith keep surviving these scandals.
9
I believe if anyone had complained about this situation, he or she could have been called an anti-semite.
1
Ohio State joins Penn State, Michigan State, and Maryland as schools that have little regard for its students or its community. Their creed is winning and the kids who have been damaged by the leadership at these schools is well over a thousand. There are fourteen schools in the "Big 10". Getting the stink of these four schools out of their conference would be a step towards the greatness they enjoyed in the previous millennium. And, ironically, get them back to a ten school conference.
7
"It's hard to be Zach Smith right now? ??!!!!???? REALLY?! That sums up this nightmare in one sentence.
13
This headline is misleading. There were no "missed signs." Urbana Meyer saw all the "signs" of inappropriate behavior and abuse, he just chose to ignore them while continuing to promote and protect the abuser. Now, Ohio State does the same by ignoring the cover up and merely suspending Meyer for three games. What an embarrassment for the University and for any female member of the Board who supported this laughable penalty. THE Ohio State University should be ashamed of itself, but alas we can see they are not.
17
Good liars have to have good memories and it's clear that Urban is a not a good liar. He has gotten pass after pass for downright stupid behavior and still talks about this in the passive voice rather than accepting responsibility the way his assistant did. This clown should be fired. This culture will never change otherwise.
11
Why is the NYT, normally home to strong and skeptical investigative journalism, so soft on this story?
Ohio State "investiagating" itself is a sham, just as most self-interested self-investigations are.
It's not in question whether Meyer "deliberately lied." He did so repeatedly at Big Ten media day, and he also erased text messages to cover up his knowledge.
None of this is a surprise. Meyer is in effect the highlight successful CEO of a nine-figure business, and as such Ohio State has a strong financial interest in protecting him despite his abhorrent behavior. But this report, and this reporting on it, don't pass the smell test.
12
One white boy cutting slack for another? What else is new? Women being damaged and killed by those whom purport to love them is as American as apple pie. This head coach is what some would call an all American boy. Just like his violent assistant and the OSU President. Similar pathology is rampant across college campuses where rape and battering by males is one of the downsides of being a woman in those zip codes. Thank God for increased communication, increased fearlessness among our women, the increasingly active political, business and administrative responsibilities that they are taking. People like Urban Meyer and his wannabee clones will have to find their place or just get out of dodge. This Zack Smith guy should have been isolated from the general population ages ago. Meyer suspended for three games? This sounds like an SNL punchline. This man and his underling are too old for rehab without continued supervision. I would fire him forthwith.
11
@Francis
About the only grievance I have with your (otherwise well written) comment is the use of the term "white". While both males in this story are white, I really don't think it makes a hill-of-beans difference what color they are. Would it make any difference if either party were a different color, would that have made the outcome different? I do like your assessment of being a female in our society today, and congratulate you on your forthright language on the topic, but please leave race out of this. This world will be a much better place when we hold people accountable for all of their actions, and don't focus on their color.
6
@John I realize my vision is less than excellent, but I cannot see that Francis used the word 'white.' Perhaps you imagined it (as Urban and Smith are both white)?
Much is missing from this article.
First, Courtney Smith's mother disputes that Zach Smith injured her daughter, saying that ZS was trying to disentangle himself from CS attacks. See https://thespun.com/news/jeff-snook-urban-meyer-zach-smith-courtney-smit... "When asked if she believed her daughter’s claims of physical abuse, she replied, “I believe that Zach was removing himself from an argument and I do not believe he intentionally abused her. I do not believe he actually intentionally swung or punched her … no.”
There is no evidence that Meyer did anything to protect ZS while at Ohio State. He kept ZS as a receiver's coach, but that is not protecting him from domestic violence accusations. He simply kept him on as the lowest paid coach on his staff. (incidentally, making sure that their children received generous child support).
CS's mother-in-law also stated: "“Someone in the neighborhood told her a black truck drove through the area at 2 a.m. and she determined it had to be Zach,” she said. “It turned out that he was out of the state recruiting at the time. That’s just how obsessed she became at getting back at him.” (This is easily verifiable or not. OSU left out statements of mother and mother-in-law from report almost certainly for PC reasons.)
Also, when the Powell police declined to prosecute and there were conflicting reports about who was at fault and matter reported to OSU higher ups, why is it UM's job to police the matter?
JD
4
We now know whether Ohio State is a learning or a football institution. The penalty assessed is a joke. Mr. Meyer made a number of mistakes, some understandable; however, he should never have ignored the warning signs. No matter, at Ohio State, as well as others, football is king. Follow the money.
7
Here is the problem with this entire story--it hinges on allegations of domestic violence against this assistant coach. Yes, there were other problems with Zack Smith that warranted his firing, and he was certainly given protected status because he was the grandson of a legendary Ohio State coach. That is a recurrent theme everywhere--someone gets or retains a job they don't deserve because of who they know or are related to, and it would merit absolutely no national attention. Without allegations of a coverup of domestic violence, this story would not be a story.
Yet now it seems pretty clear that Urban Meyer and the Ohio State athletic department simply did not believe the allegations, and their distrust of those allegations by the "victim" appears to be well-warranted. Law enforcement officials investigated nine incidents of purported domestic violence and filed charges on none of them. The "victim's" mother herself told the press that her daughter was lying about the allegations, needed mental health treatment, and had vowed "to bring Urban Meyer down." In their 23-page report, the investigators who conducted the investigation over the last three weeks never once stated they believed the allegation of the "victim." And Meyer pointedly refused to apologize to the "victim" at a press conference yesterday.
So what is an institution to do in this day of political correctness when it concludes that an allegation of domestic violence (or campus rape) is a lie?
7
@Chuck French: What I really do not understand is the notion of "a job they don't deserve." How are the commenters on an article in the Times in a position to determine who does or does not deserve a certain job? Even if the allegations are true, where is it written that the appropriate punishment for domestic violence is loss of employment? Don't many of us think that convicted felons deserve to be considered for employment?
1
They aught to shut the whole thing down. Football has consumed Ohio State. It's an excellent academic institution, but football is the only thing people think of when you tell them you went there for undergrad.
3
This article ran with a photograph of Urban Meyer's "supporters" but they all look like middle aged folks. This football team is supposedly part of the university and if it is an important part of it, that group should have been largely current students.
If the university is running a football team for the benefit of people who have nothing to do with the university, then they should start paying the players who are obviously employees in an entertainment enterprise that has nothing to do with athletics. Just start directing all the money to pay for it back to academics and let the coaches survive by being paid ONLY from what the revenue brings in, including the cost of maintaining the lavish football stadium and athletic facilities.
9
Meyer covers up spousal abuse, thereby breaching his contract and gets a slap on the wrist. This is the personification of everything that is wrong with college football.
96
a three game suspension?!? Urban Meyer gets paid millions, the players get zip, the assistant in this case is a wife beating, neanderthal frat boy who acts if he's i.v.ed on steroids and cocaine, and the 'grown ups' suspend meyer for three games? Ohio State fails the test, as did penn state in the sandusky child sex abuse debacle, as Maryland football fails with their scandal. The cavalier attitude of 'sweeping scandals under the rug' as long as the team 'wins' is the epitome of hypocrisy. is there no accountability for anything anymore? 'rome burns'.....
7
Captain Obvious here, with a series of observations & suggestions.
I was a scholarship athlete in the good old days, when coaches developed the abilities and motivation in their student/athletes. Athletes were treated with respect and really could benefit from, and even learn about leadership, from a dedicated college coach.
College sports have become the exclusive purview of alumni fund raising programs, top to bottom.
College coaches, especially the anointed few that have "worked" into positions at large universities and/or in major sports programs, can enjoy the highest incomes in public life. My apologies to the honestly dedicated men & women who have maintained their values.
The critical skill sets among contemporary college coaches are, #1, fund raising; #2, recruiting the most talented athletes.
Typically "coaches" are completely dependent on the simple-minded technique of intimidating athletes. Usually, these students arrived already in possession of the talent & skills, developed in high school, that all but assure their success. The threat to withdraw a scholarship means the end of the student's athletic and academic ambitions. Often, there is no due process.
Reform!
Head Coach's compensation should not exceed that of a full tenured professor, with comparable academic credentials.
Pay & protect athletes with a salary & long-term medical benefits.
Scholarships should be irrevocable, contingent on the student's continued good-faith participation.
16
I'm confused--did Urban Meyer assault his wife? /s
5
If I am reading this article right, Coach Meyer has been suspended because he didn't report problems to "the proper school administrators." Was that the Title IX officials? It would be good to know concretely what the required course of action would have been.
3
This really is the epitome of shame. I wonder why the president of OSU is not mentioned in these processes. There have been numerous coaches who were fired for much less than this. Salary amounts are not the issue. The "board" and all involved should be replaced. Myer's memory loss affliction seems to be much like the dude who occupies our presidents seat. Bone spurs and memory loss.
The bottom line is the smear that is imprinted in the minds of the young players of the team.
Also, cannot the wife file suit in this situation?
5
Sorry but there were no missed signs. Pope Urban and the Ohio Shame the Victim University knew what was going on. Otherwise, why erase the emails? This university has no credibility. The Big 10 needs to take action and remove Pope Urban from the throne. Then they need to clean up the wrestling mess including their famous alumni Jim, what abuse, Jordan.
11
The only real outrage from OSU fans will come if they don't win games this year. Morality and College Football? Oil and water.
8
Absolutely power corrupts absolutely - The OSU and Urban Meyer have no shame and their disregard for the safety and security of Women an d tolerance for sexual harassment and breaking of the law is amazing even at football factory such as OSU. AD , Bd of Trustees and U Pres should all be sanctioned and hung out to dry. State and federal funding should be withheld and NCAA should ( but wont) investigate if this athletic dept black hole should suffer greater sanctions and loss of post season status ala Penn St in the aftermath of J Sandusky.
5
“You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear“, is a nice way to describe college football and the Catholic Church. My advice, As a former scholarship college football player and Catholic is to “burn it all down” and rebuild from the bottom or don’t rebuild at all. Both institutions are rotten in the center and damaging to our children.
10
@Mick Yep, totally agree and I'm a college football fan and actually 3-game season ticket holder at an FBS Power 5 school. Coaches shouldn't be making $10M a year; students should be students; they shouldn't have palaces for training facilities, etc. Weird how we got here. Soon the $20M a year coach is coming as are six-figure "amateur" players. It's all out of whack. They need to start over ... or end it. Yes, same with the Catholic church like you mentioned.
3
To keep giving the guy huge raises despite poor job performance - what is that, blackmail?
4
And yet more proof that there is an unacceptably high level of tolerance for misconduct—if it means a successful sports season—especially in football and basketball.
3
The photograph of Meyer's supporters absolutely confounds me. How easily some people turn a blind eye when it comes to college athletics. And the stunning hypocrisy of it all. These same women would be screaming for Meyer's head if it were their daughters who had been abused. Or if the football team was lousy for a couple of seasons. My guess is that for these clueless people both hold equal weight.
8
OSU football is a money making machine. Enough said...
4
When Meyer was not dismissed immediately after the revelation of his misconduct, it was evident that Ohio State was simply looking for a way to retain him. It was nothing more than a sham investigation, rationalization and letting the football tail wag the university dog.
15
Ditto. Also,the signs were not missed regarding the assault and battering of Smith's wife and Smith's misconduct on the job. The signs were intentionally and repeatedly ignored on many levels. Let's just call this what it is and cease the utter nonsense of excusing coverups of criminal conduct, including those who are charged with the fiduciary responsibilities of detecting and reporting it.
2
More good old boys protecting other good old boys.
One reason I never enjoyed "team sports".
3
About 20 years ago, I walked by the young receptionist at works desk and she was crying. I said Julie why are you crying. She told me that some of these male employees ( who were just staff engineers) their wives /girlfriends were so abusive to her calling the switchboard. I said what. I said didn’t they have the direct number, she said it came back to her. Then they accused her of lying and covering for their husband or live-in boy friend. I asked her who it was she told me after much begging the worst two offenders, but told me their were more. I as a female engineer who worked my entire career was shocked. I was sitting by her desk and sure enough one of them called and launched into the tiaraid.
I then started by calling each male into my office. I said Wayne it has come to my attention that your wife is calling in and verbally abusing Julie. It is unacceptable. If it doesn’t stop, I will start to write you up for disciplinary actions leading to termination. He told me that he was in the process of beginning divorces actions on his stay at home wife, who was making all sort of allegations. I said here is the deal, I have personally hear her be abusive to Julie. Tell your lawyer that I will testify in court. I will guess that Julie will also testify to the emotional and verbal abuse.
Next I called in Ted. I told him the same thing. His response was I have been trying to breakup and remove his live in girlfriend from his house
3
@MJS
Exactly!
That's what the accounts of this case from the NYT miss.
What we have here is an ex-wife who is continually calling up her ex-husband's co-workers to spew venom about him.
This was a couple that was already long divorced and had a parenting plan set up through lawyers. There can be no role for ex-spouses in the work lives of their former partners, especially after years of separation.
What this commenter captures is how incredibly common it is in disputes of estranged partners for ex-wives/girlfriends to attempt to undermine the husband/boyfriend at their jobs or within their own network of friends and associates.
That's not what Title IX on campuses was intended for. This kind of manipulative, hateful behavior does not enjoin reporting duties on university employees. Meyer and his wife are unfairly tarnished here.
Sadly, #metoo is too often just an extension of this very common tendency.
3
@MJS So? Some men in your office were stupid about how they handled their private business, effectively pushing their problems onto the receptionist. Your receptionist was still treated poorly and put up with it.
Your story has nothing to do with Urban Meyer, Zach Smith and Ohio State, except maybe that people will avoid dealing with their issues and often force others to do so.
2
This is why African Americans and others cannot get top jobs in coaching (or in corporate America): white coaches (and CEOS) hire, protect, and promote those who look like them. Unless we are thoughtful and vigilant, we hire who we are and perpetuate a broken system to the detriment of progress, innovation, and equity.
These practices lead to a system that is sick and un-American. The notion that our nation is a meritocracy is a dangerous myth.
5
I am fairly certain that both the Athletic Director and the President of OSU are African American. Please educate yourself prior to commenting.
Rich, white guys shamelessly covering up the misdeeds of other rich, white guys to avoid accountability and justice--all while getting paid incredible sums of money at the taxpayer's expense. Hmmm, sounds kind of familiar...
7
@Brannon Perkison
exactly, you got it!
1
Hmmm. I was under the impression that Urban's boss (Gene Smith) and his boss's boss (President Drake) were both African-American.
I must be either blind, stupid, or both. Darn.
1
An inadequate response to the larger problem - protecting those who do wrong just because they are part of the OSU "family". A zero tolerance policy is in order. This may be heresy in Ohio, but football and other sports are not worth it. Teaching better societal values is more important.
10
@Doug Nicety hear this from a fellow Cincinnatin! marthastephens.wordpress.com
1
This story buried something shocking:
In Feb. 2015, Mr. Smith's salary went from $170,000/year to $220,000. He received a $50,000 raise after being caught with his reckless behavior.
Then in February, 2017 -- after even more problems and rules breaking -- Urban Meyer raised his salary to nearly $300,000! Mr. Smith got a $74,000 raise!
By the way, that is taxpayer money spent to hire and generously compensate a hugely problematic employee because Urban Meyer wanted to do a favor for his grandfather.
Maybe next time Urban Meyer can give Mr. Smith a $300,000 gift each year out of his own salary, instead of having taxpayers foot the bill for hiring and overpaying guys who screw up over and over.
Can you imagine that professors probably get paid less than 1/3 of what an assistant football coach whose grandpa was pals with the head coach gets paid?
57
@RJ I agree with every condemnation given Coach Smith, Coach Meyer and AD Smith. But that said it isn't taxpayer money. Ohio State athletics generated all of the money used to pay salaries, benefits and expenses of everyone employed by the OSU Athletic Dept. That is the case for most major athletic programs in 2018 - they are profit engines for universities. https://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2017/03/ohio_state_bucke...
5
@RJ: I'm not sure you are correct. The article also says that the Ohio State home football games generates 7 million dollars a game. So coaches salaries might come from out of that money? I'm not at all sure that those salaries are paid by taxpayers. I'm not condoning Mr. Smith's conduct in anyway, however, those raises may reflect Smith's coaching performance and not anything else.
I think the outrage lies in allowing Smith to continue without disciplinary action, without investigation. The pay raises are really only salt in the wound.
1
@RJ
Silly points. First, ZS was the lowest paid assistant coach at Ohio State. Some of the assistants make $1,000,000. Salaries have gone up as the competition between schools gets more difficult.
There are several reasons for the high salaries. 1. A winning team makes money for the university. 2. It is a high pressure, difficult job, much more difficult than the jobs of 99% of the professors. 3. The results of the coaches' work are displayed each week before 10s of millions of people for all of the spectators to judge the worth of the coaches and their team.
Additionally, many colleges without football teams find that adding a football team increases the enrollment of the school. Undoubtedly, OSU football helps attract students.
Should add that the admissions standards at OSU have gone up over the last five years; about 5 years ago the average ACT score was 23 -- now it is 29. Furthermore, Ohio State is a good deal tuition wise for in-state students; The tuition is about $10,300 per year, which is a bargain. So, the idea that football is contributing to mis-management at OSU is far-fetched.
JD
3
If Jim Tressel deserved to get fired over some improperly sold jerseys and other OSU memorabilia, then Urban Meyer should certainly have been fired over this mess. I love my OSU sports and I'm an Ohio native, but this decision smacks decisively of looking the other way. Suspending Meyer for the first three non-league gimme games is really no punishment--it is OSU authorities covering their own backsides. Because Smith wasn't dealt with years ago, the situation worsened until it became ugly and public. Meyer, Smith and his ex-wife--and now OSU--are to blame for all of this. When profit-earning sports are involved, universities can't get it right.
17
@Meg
Smith and his ex-wife ...are to blame.
How in the world is his ex wife to blame?
3
As an Ohioan, I don't think the penalty was anywhere near sufficient.
But let me also add that I loathe football.
As a spectator, It isn't as boring as golf to watch because sometimes some guy throws a ball a long way and you can see somebody running like crazy in a zig zag pattern and catching it. The rest of the time it is a heaving bunch of ants.that is more boring than watching an ant pile. At least with ants you get the feeling that there is nothing more productive they could be doing with their time.
But as a participant it is very dangerous and a hazard to one's own health. And that of those involved with football players. Don't tell me steroid and other drug use isn't rampant. I hate to say it but it is clearly used in pro basketball too.
But basketball doesn't need it because it should be a beautiful game to watch. Football is boring and ugly.
If people say they are intellectually interested in complicated patterns and precision execution of them, they are much better off watching the Ohio State Marching Band, which is much more skillful, gives anticipatory pleasure as the patterns unfold, is often witty and even pretty!
12
@Christine I'd go for sandlot teams and sports and exercise fields and courts made available for all students! marthastephens.wordpress.com
1
Ohio State administrators know that firing Urban Meyer would take the school out of contention for national championships, thus a mere three game suspension.
Coach Meyer arrived in Columbus from the University of Florida with a tainted history. The Buckeyes ignored Meyer's red flags.
Contention for national champions is like a drug and OSU fans are addicted to Meyer's ability to field teams that are routinely picked to compete for the college playoffs. I am not surprised by the rabid support for good 'ol Urban.
8
Why was it Ohio State's obligation to report or investigate, or take disciplinary action in response to, domestic violence accusations against Smith? The article should tell us that.
3
@Mark seems to me that since this is a state school with salaries paid for by tax dollars not only should it be OSU's obligation, but the State Board of Trustees and maybe even the State legislature.
2
@Chigirl: So what is the principle here? That somebody accused of a crime should automatically lose their job? Shouldn't it be the police and the criminal justice system whose business it is to investigate such accusations?
@Mark
Title IX ... the original law, from 1972, states simply "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."
Over the years Title IX was expanded to include sexual harassment and violence ... " In the 1990s, the U.S. Supreme Court issued three decisions clarifying that Title IX requires schools to respond appropriately to reports of sexual harassment and sexual violence against students."
And later still, during the Obama administration, it was expanded further to include staff members. That's where OSU got entangled.
Not defending it or criticizing it, just explaining it.
2
Every time I read one of these stories about leadership failures I wonder if there were formal processes in place at these universities and employers to help stop this kind of thing from happening. I wonder, was there a formal statements in place on ethics, discrimination in the workplace, where to go if you had an issue. And was their required training on these issues along with a signed affirmation from employees, including all levels of management? Urban Meyer made a bad call and he lied to protect Zach Smith, the miserable offspring of Meyer's mentor. I don't agree with all these calls for his head. Any one of us may have made the same bad decision and I suspect the University is looking in the mirror on this whole matter and recognizing it too needed to be better buttoned down on it's policies, training, and expectations of it's management team. Urban Meyer seems a good man in all other respects. A suspension without pay is a lot more fair than all these calls for his head, many of which are born from a distaste for anyone who makes a lot of money.
3
I wholeheartedly disagree that "Any one of us may have made the same bad decision..." Further, one does not need ethics training or any other training to know that assaulting and battering ANYONE is wrong and criminal conduct. Ethics training cannot help those individuals.
1
Why does anybody value college football or basketball for that matter sufficiently enough to pay coaches such exhorbitant wages?
The compensation of coaches just invites the types of abuses at Ohio State, North Carolina's basketball team and countless other programs.
Return college sports to amateur status. Let the pros set up their own minor leagues which is what the college D1 sports have become (with the notable exception of baseball). Let's re-establish a baseline of ethics and priorities for our colleges and universities
Hah, fat chance.
6
Pay raises of 50K and 74K work out to 29% and 32% of the base salary. The raises alone are more than most of the adjunct faculty at Ohio State make and bear no resemblance to reality. If you have ever known anyone that lived/lives in Columbus, you know that the area is rabidly deranged when it comes to Buckeye football.
18
"By June 2016 Mr. Meyer had directed Mr. Smith to check into a drug treatment facility for addiction to a stimulant prescription drug used to treat A.D.H.D.
The following February, Mr. Meyer recommended that Mr. Smith receive a nearly $74,000 raise to bring his salary to $300,000."
How many Americans could get away with this garbage?
8
Amateur athletics is a dream. College football is the route to the NFL. The NCAA accommodates the passage. Trustees want winning football teams without the problems. Meyer is caught between a rock an a hard place. Does anyone want reform?
Great picture accompanying this article. A question for our time: why do Deplorable women show up for these men? What is the motivator?
2
Try naming a major U.S. corporation, other than the White House, that wouldn't have fired upper management employees such as Smith and Meyer immediately after connecting the dots of their combined behaviors. Winning without integrity is worse than losing with it. Ohio State is teaching all those fresh young minds that show up each fall that the ends justify the means and hypocrisy is in season. I would think twice before hiring a graduate of such a school.
13
At any other university, Meyer would be fired!
I think an NCAA is warranted. A three game suspension is a joke.
3
Your comment is laughable.
Sounds like massive employer overreach. Do you want your job to hing on what your boss hears about your private life? Just like government needs to keep it's hands off our bodies, employers need to stay out of our non-work lives.
6
Was anyone really expecting a different result for what has become an est. $3.5B industry in the "halls of higher learning?"
Laughable much?
3
Zach Smith was awarded raises of $50K one year and nearly $75K the next. Despite Smith's bad behavior as a coach and a man. Enough said about Urban Meyer's non-football judgement....
9
OSU football coach and mentor to Urban Meyer, Earle Bruce, Zach Smith's grandfather was seen on several occasions at the Scioto Downs track with Earle Bruce. This fact helped cover up Art Schlichter's early gambling problems while Schlichter was at Ohio State. Coverup by coach is nothing new.
Coaches Woody Hayes, Earle Bruce, Earle's grandson, Zach Smith and now, Urban are not figures we should choose as models of integrity.
Coach Meyer said his "heart got in the way" in describing not doing as law required him, in his apology to "Buckeye Nation", whatever that is. What a marketing scam! People are so credible.
4
@E C Scherer If you read all of the reporting on this, Meyer didn't "not do as law required him". If that was found to be the case he would have been tossed. Not saying he's smelling like a rose in all this mess, but he didn't fail to do as the law required like you're trying to assert.
2
correction: the last name at end of the first sentence should read, "Art Schlichter" not "Earle Bruce".
@ML Your right in that he's not smelling like a rose in this mess" and it does smell like a coverup on the part of OSU. Meyers has acknowledged he should have spoken up.
Strictly speaking, I should have better said that he did not do as the spirit of the law required him. The consequence for his more than poor judgment was a slap on the wrist. The deleting of Coach Meyer's text messages are troubling, as the investigators have said. There are questions that may never be answered.
Meyer should have never hired Zach Smith, knowing he already had issues. Turning a blind eye to Zach Smith's behavior, both before and after hiring him, is very poor judgment.
This is a blot on Meyer's character and on The Ohio State University.
A clear message that men have the power and women are expendable.
16
I'm really uncomfortable with absolute declarations, adrienne. The progress women have made in and out of the workplace over the past 50-years is nothing short of breathtaking.
My mother was consigned to the home, like it or not. My wife owns her own company. Most of her employees are men. She would think your comment is an insult to all independent, ambitious women.
3
As an OSU faculty member, who has seen our annual raises hover around 2% for decades, it is disheartening to learn that Zach Smith received a 33% pay raise in 2015 while under investigation for domestic abuse (for the 2nd time!). Why aren't others in OSU leadership being held accountable here?
43
Actually, I find most alarming in all this the lack of reaction from the women of the Ohio State community. One of the photographs in the article shows mostly women actually protesting the administrative leave. Where are the students, the faculty, and the alumni and why are they not outraged at the lack of a very firm statement about the abuse of women from their university?
16
The comments are no place for an intelligent discussion, but I seriously wonder what the obligation for a supervisor is in this situation.
The police investigated but charges weren't filed. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?
And, let's say Smith is guilty. His penalty should be enforced by the state, or by the federal government. Why is his employer obligated to fire him?
8
@Wolf I'm confident that OSU has a code of ethics and conduct for their employees - seems to me Mr. Smith "might" have violated one or two of them
1
@Wolf Because the university had a policy in place that required him, per his contract, to report any abuse.
2
@Wolf
You would not comprehend the answer.
1
College football starts out with a fraud : that those who play are students, (who want to devote nearly every waking hour of their week to the game because they don't need time to study anything). From that initial fraud it's all an easy downhill slide.
Instead the players should be compensated, and part of their compensation should be a full four-year scholarship to be taken up at any time in their future when, and if, they finally want to go to college. At least the entire academic enterprise would no longer be corrupted in various ways to accommodate pretend students who only earn weekend headlines.
9
Dismiss both coaches for the entire season to attend anger management, gender equity and employee management classes together and make football game tickets free this year to punish the school by taking away what it cares about most (reimburse season ticket holders). The school can cover sports costs out of their endowment for one year and then they will police themselves to prevent this from happening in the future.
15
Mistype - suspend the coach and the athletic director for the season
2
This is not as bad as baylor, but firing meyer is warranted. Nothing but another cover up with no real penalties. Some universities have forgotten their real purpose.
21
Has anyone noticed the photo accompanying this article. And other photos taken at rallies where students are supporting their coach? You cannot count the number of young women with banners supportive of Coach Meyer. So this is the Me Too movement in all of its glory?
3
@Wan
Those supporters don't look like "young women". They look like middle aged women -- so I wonder if they are employees of the football program, the wives or mothers of employees of the football program or the mothers of football players.
They don't look like college students. So whether they support an employee of the university should be irrelevant.
3
As a Michigan State grad, I will definitely not be an apologist for Urban Meyer or OSU.
But we are playing out a bad comedy script in this country by acting shocked at these stories whether from OSU, MSU or any national program.
Division I college football ( and basketball) is a nationwide corporation otherwise known as the NCAA.
Meyer, like any other coach in a program like OSU is under relentless pressure, more than most NFL coaches, to crank out championships.
We all like to believe that Division I football and basketball programs consist of students who are there to be educated first and athletes second. Right.
So, go ahead and suspend everyone until the cows come home but if a coach delivers national championships, we delete these uncomfortable issues with members of the program.
Sis boom rah-rah America.
20
Another two-paragraph story about college athletics:
A coach or athletics administrator at a school involved in the top division of college balls and bats almost without exception will not act on wrongdoing by coaches, administrators or athletes until he or she is reasonably certain it can't be kept out of the public eye.
The school's administration almost always will be complicit. Athletics almost without exception is bigger than the administration, usually bigger than the trustees, at these schools.
See what state I'm from? Familiar with what its flagship university went through over the last 8 years? And yet when it caught 15 football players selling gift shoes in violation of NCAA rules in FEBRUARY, it reneged on his still-warm promise of transparency and waited to tell the public about 15 minutes after a TV station broke the story in JULY.
The sandal they wormed their way out of has left them feeling like the matter of 15 players selling shoes is nothing but a hangnail.
Money continues to call the tune, and it will until Congress cuts them loose from their tax exemption and the schools cut them loose as private entertainment businesses.
(Oh, but yeah, we could just pay the players, and THEN they'd start obeying all the rules. In what parallel universe?)
4
Mr. Money Bags should be given a Huuuuuge fine. That's the only thing these guys will understand. Seriously.
12
All hail the gods of football. And then fire this one. He is not fit to be a teacher, which, believe it or not, is what coaches are theoretically. In some states the state u football coach is the highest paid public employee. Something wrong with that? Hut 2, 3 4. What a culture we have in this country.
26
Football is a corrupt sport, at all levels.
When the monetary stakes are so high for the coaches and the organizations involved, it is very easy to look the other way, to minimize the corrupting influences in the culture, to exploit people, and ignore the most obvious of signs of the corruption.
Moreover, violence is characteristic of the sport, both on and off the field. It's just another day at the office. So it was no big deal to Urban Meyer or Ohio State.
How many highly paid coaches in successful, lucrative franchises can you name that were fired after wrongdoing was uncovered?
The thing that will get you fired in the NFL and college football is losing games.
All the other issues can be managed.
10
An enabler of abuse gets a slap on the wrist because he brings in too much money, because he means too much to prideful alumni and because women in their toxic environment don't have the same value. Three days suspension? Yeah, sure. He and the coaching staff will find a way to communicate during the games, and nothing long-lasting will come of this. What's laughable is that we as a society continue to fool ourselves that the systems designed to hold powerful men to account are a charade.
5
This is your brain.
This is your brain on Ohio State Football, the pursuit of national championships, grooming elite athletes for the next level, and the revenue stream at OSU.
These goals must be protected.
Just wondering if anyone actually called Urban Meyer out on what exactly he means by following his heart vs. head comment.
3 non-conference games are a slap on the wrist.
22
Sign of the times. Immorality rules, and even worse, gets rewarded.
Colleges are supposed to be about education. Even athletic programs try to defend their dubious practices by claiming they are teaching valuable life lessons. The lesson here is don’t send your kid to OSU if you want him/her to learn. Terrible missed opportunity.
2
It's the old boy network. That's all.
10
Does anyone want their employer getting involved in their marriages and deciding who to believe? Do you want your boss or HR department to determine if your behavior at home is abusive or not? These issues needed to be dealt with in the courts. If a court of law finds you guilty then you should be fired, otherwise whoever you work for will have to decide your guilt or innocence. I am very uncomfortable with that.
9
I would like the ability to fire an employee for beating his wife even if she won’t press charges and there is no action from the police. Since most domestic violence is never even known by the police, let alone done anything about, waiting until there is some formal legal acknowledgment feels like an excuse to do nothing.
17
@Sam C So you're saying that domestic violence that's not even *known by the police* should, in effect, be policed by the employer by way of firing him? (And, for that matter, this helps the spouse, exactly, how?) By extension, you must also be saying that an employer should fire the boss of an employee who may or may not be abusing a spouse (who knows, the police don't, in your scenario), thus making the direct boss responsible for the police's job. This argument is so messed up I don't know where to begin.
@Sam C Then it would be a case of her word vs. his. Such an opportunity for abuse in the case of a failing relationship. That is what we have courts for.
Excellent! I have never liked Urban Meyer. I opposed him at the University of Florida and especially loathe him as the "coach" of Ohio State. I can't stand Ohio State! He should be fired and banned from coaching football. Thank you.
3
Urban Meyers’s only job at Ohio State University football is to win championships.
He assiduously avoided problems like Zack Smith’s behavior toward his wife,.
A three game suspension for such an aggregious incident is horrible; Meyers should have been fired.
Does Meyers have any idea how many of his football players actually graduate college.,,what’s that?
9
All of us readers are partly to blame for the way this stuff happens in big athletic programs or any other brand-name organization. I doubt the NYT would bother to put on its home page an article about an OSU chemistry professor, whether the article was an academic achievement or lack of reporting of a co-worker's bad behavior. The ever-growing influence and leeway granted of sports figures and celebrities (even better when both!) is both caused by and further perpetuated by our insatiable media appetite for news about their lives, whether good or bad. More society attention, coverage and clicks ultimately results in more dollars from media, brand sponsorship and boosters for the people and organization, and it only keeps growing.
4
Reading these comments, again, shows how ignorant the public is in this case. Obviously no one read the report's findings or any of the local news reporting on the facts of the case. People hear "domestic violence" and instantly it's off with their heads.
3
Disgraceful. In any other environment Meyer would have been fired for cause. The OSU administration doesn't even have the good sense to be embarrassed.
As an aside, I travel frequently to Europe and my colleagues there are baffled when I describe to them the breadth and economics of college sports. I have often wonderrd what it says about our values that in virtually every state in the union, the highest paid public officials are the university football and basketball coaches. We have somehow gotten this completely upside down.
20
Missed signs? The college athletics system at Ohio State and elsewhere is designed to foster corruption and to cover it up when it surfaces. That extends to abuse as well as financial corruption. And of course people like Jim Jordan are part of a long tradition--the pipeline from abusive athletics relationships into the Republican Party. Remember Denny Hastert???
12
Sadly another example of an authority figure falling far short of meeting their responsibilities and paying a minimal penalty. Athletic coaches sexually abuse students, priests sexually abuse children, police abuses of citizens persist - and the abusers and institutions continue without meaningful penalty or change. Too often the victims pay a far greater price than their abusers - trauma and injury that last a lifetime. In college athletics the more substantial penalties are placed on athletes that violate an arcane rule that violates their “amateur” status, while coaches and administrators at worst move on to another job.
Here, Meyer has failed completely in the job of managing his staff. From a coach lauded for his attention to the smallest detail related to his teams performance, not maintaining the same standards for his staff is unacceptable. He should be fired.
10
College revenue sports do not advance the purposes of the university, which are an enlightened citizenry, research to benefit the public and innovation.
In days very past, college sports were 'fun', a way to bring the university community together and express spirit.
Now, the revenue sports are all about money. They get special quotas to admit students who are not qualified, who know their only requirement is to play their sport, and who fail to graduate in numbers far above the university average. The coaches, like Meyer, are paid obscene salaries and given far too much license. Facilities are built, with public money, that exclude all students aside from these few. Grades are manufactured, players' bodies are broken. And decision-making at the highest level is skewed toward greed for the revenue.
These sports do not deserve the tax exemptions that are given to universities to support their legitimate purposes. They serve no public interest. They are businesses.
College revenue sports should be stripped of their tax exempt status immediately. Taxes should be paid on facilities and no public money should flow to costs. The teams can license their names from the universities if desired, but they are effectively farm teams for the NFL and NBA and it is long, long past time for those organizations to pay their own way.
Time to catch up to reality. Stop the pretense that players are 'real' students and pay them like minor leaguers. Tax donations.
28
It will be reassuring when these scandals include the head of the math department. At least we'll all know the university is starting to focus its time and money on academic education and not games.
4
College athletics is a cesspool of santioned corruption. See University of Maryland football, Penn State, all Florida schools, etc., etc.
14
What's the matter with Ohio State?
4
@feddef Gene Smith.
1
Headline should be 'Urban Meyer and his Blind Eye." Abuse on this level usually involves many who do nothing. When are people (men) going to go to jail for these crimes?
7
@Helen What crime would that be? Everything was investigated by the police and there were never any charges filed or conviction.
7
@SBifocals I'm including the abuse of the wrestling team at Ohio State and thinking of the decades long sexual abuse of young women at Michigan State. And that's just the state colleges.
We also have the clergy, the military, the U.N. - so many organizations run by men that have been allowed to rape and abuse and there's really no accountability.
When one considers a son of your hero 'family,' then nepotism rules kick in.
The lack of objective supervision on the Meyer's part means his slight inconvenience of a few games away is really minimal, when considering his enormous salary.
Why do alumni continue to send their support, expressed via money, to football and other major sports rather than to the academics?
18
Not enough. Urban Meyer should have been fired.
18
@JJ
So should hundreds of bosses across the country, using your litmus test. Domestic abuse, on both women and men, happens a lot every day. Ask the police what is the most dangerous situation they deal with everyday.
We live in a nation where the divorce rate is over 50%. And many of of those are because of domestic abuse.
So, you would have a lot of unemployed people.
I guess employers must add to their employee handbook, if you know of someone abusing their spouse, if you do not report it, you will be fired.
How realistic is that?
Domestic abuse is wrong. These people need psychological help. This is not "mansplaining". Men are as abused as women, just men do not report it.
4
@JJ For what? He followed protocol by notifying his superiors, but made the mistake of depending on law enforcement before reporting to the compliance office. His only sin was keeping a poor employee on staff for far too long.. and last i looked that is not a fireable offense.
4
@Nick Metrowsky Can you post some citations on your claim that domestic violence is perpetrated equally on men as well as women? Seems to me everyday brings another story about a missing mother (usually pregnant) who turns up dead and - spoiler alert - it's the husband. The same one who made a tearful plea for her return and helped search for her body.
Please inform us who the female Bill Cosby is. I'd really like to know. I guess in sports there is some equality - the boys at Penn State and Ohio State, the women of Michigan State. And that's just the ones we know about.
Professional sports, of which college sports is included, is a blight on our society. Economically, socially, morally. But men like it so...
Who does OSU think they are kidding? A three game suspension at the beginning of the season from non-conference games?! And this is punishment?
How about firing the coach, the AD and any members of the board who supported this sham. OSU is promoting a culture in which winning coaches are granted immunity from responsibility for their actions and for turning a blind eye to the offenses of those around them. Remember the hand-wringing at Penn State and the question,"How could something like this happen?" This is how.
31
Comparing this to Penn State is ridiculous. There was no cover-up, and there are valid questions about whether or not any abuse took place.
4
@NYView
Clearly you know about college football! Seriously, I guess this suspension is meaningless.
These were not "missed" signs...this was appalling--no, make that criminal--behavior, willfully & utterly ignored by Mr. Meyer. How does he look himself in the mirror?
17
Yeah, recruiters will scoff up the miscreants in a heartbeat, because wrong isn't wrong, anymore, and truth is legitimate in myriad ways (Colbert's "truthiness" is close enough), outrageous -- even obscenely outrageous behavior -- is okay in moderation (after all, it IS a school), because even appalling behavior is derigueur right now.
7
Meyer should be fired & fined. Yet another example in our universities where coaches are given a slap in the hand because they have winning teams. This is all criminal behavior, cover-ups & complicity. People in lower profile jobs would simply be let go.
Why does this story keep appearing in the news. Just shuffle the names of the coaches & institutions........
12
@Will Goubert There was no crime, no cover up and no complicity. Your comments are beyond ignorant. Try reading the report's findings.
4
Meyer's record of coddling felons, if they were great football players, while he was at a Florida put everybody on notice that winning was all that mattered. A murder conviction, a prison suicide, and three national championships later, we8re to hope a three-day suspension will do the trick?
10
Football, with the culture it brings with it, doesn’t belong on university campuses.
14
The worst sexual harassment stories on major college campuses are not in the athletic departments but, rather, in the academic departments. Instructors, faculty members and department heads have been using their positions to exploit and harass students and junior staff members for many years. The recent scandal at NYU is merely the top of a very ugly iceberg. For some reason, these stories typically are not deemed newsworthy. So, by the logic of those calling for the elimination of college football, colleges also should eliminate academics.
3
Congress should pass a law prohibiting colleges and universities that receive federal funds from paying coaches more that the presidents of those institutions. These ludicrous salaries create a culture of corruption where winning at all costs becomes the norm. I say this as an avid sports fan.
13
@DeanAnd Presidents should be paid no more than the most favored assistant professor. Probably do wonders for assistant prof salaries.
3
@Dean
Lol, do you see who lives in the W.H. Congress should do a lot starting there
2
The responsibility for domestic violence prosecution rested on the parties involved, not the employer. The wife's failure to prosecute the offenses against her is the issue and Meyer should have no burden placed upon him for that aspect of the case. The other issues of Smith's behavior at his job should not have been overlooked by Meyer and he is rightly being held accountable, even though Meyer was conflicted by his loyalty to his mentor, Smith's father.
12
Corruption in college athletics is commonplace. Schools overlook things if it's a big revenue sport and treat teams like loyalty. The NCAA can't possibly enforce all their recruiting rules. College programs are farm teams for the NFL and NBA. No other country has university sports like we do here.
8
I continue to be astounded by these reports of abuse and cover up in college sports generally and football in particular. As someone who grew up in the UK and was educated at a British University, I am mystified by the role of sports and the power wielded by those associated with them in what are, supposedly, institutions of education. I guess it’s all about the money.
39
As an alumni of OSU, i am disheartened to see that once again the sports area of the university is embroiled in another major scandal. While the academic quality of the university has improve amazingly over the last two decades, the sports area keeps pulling OSU's reputation down into the gutter. Shame on all the powers to be for being so complicit with all this over the years due to the big money that is apart of sports.
54
Disheartened, maybe. But are you surprised?
Or disgusted?
1
@DJK.
Sports - for good or ill - is all I ever hear about OSU. I have no idea about its academic offerings. You are correct to identify a major problem for OSU - the top brass should take care of the school's reputation.
1
@DJK.
As an alumnus of University of Michigan, I ought to hate Meyer of Ohio State. But, where do we draw the line as far as a coach or a boss getting involved in a subordinates personal life. Yes, Smith did horrific things to his wife; she should have gone to police and left him.
But coaches and bosses cannot be babysitters, nor stick their nose into people’s personal life. What’s next: him telling Smiths wife to provide her husband with more sex to get his anger under control? Where does it stop???
OSU, a great university, allowed a football coach to sully its reputation. The nation observes the ugly face of college football. It's a money-driven colossus, an out-of-control semi-pro sport where the tail wags the dog. Laws, morals, ethics and standards of decency mean nothing at these football industries.
Bring on the hand-wringing commentators on ESPN who will aid and abet the effort to explain all this away, and, predictably, declare the punishment for Meyer as appropriate.
10
Not to diminish the domestic abuse accusations, but how does a wide receivers coach in college get paid $340k a year?!? I knew head coaches were paid lucratively but I didn't realize the second tier staff was also in the 1%. If this were the pros I wouldn't care but college? The institutions that demand a pound of flesh from our country's youth because they can't cover administrative costs otherwise?
College sports needs to be reformed yesterday.
102
Missed signs?
You have hundreds of thousands of drunken fans, watching tv and at the games, cheering on young men bashing each other into CTE oblivion...it just follows to reason that behind the scenes things were just as inhuman and brutal.
Blame the fans, they want the brutality, the savage conflict, exactly as the Romans wanted their own gladiators to fight.
Sure, today CTE kills slower than a sword or a lion, but football is deadly and no parent or coach can be considered decent who allows this gladiator conflict.
College football rests on the shoulders of high school football, and high school football is outright child abuse,shown by the research that is coming in all the time on the dangers of football collisions.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
23
A college administrator or chair of an academic department at a large university would be fired for not reporting these problems by someone they supervise. Apparently there are different standards at Ohio State for football coaches.
49
@DragonDuck The problems were reported! Please educate yourself before commenting. This issue is that the compliance office wasn't notified because no charges were filed. The coach notified his superior, but since no charges were filed, didn't feel compelled to notify the compliance office. He shouldn't have even been suspended one game.
3
@SBifocals A compliance office at a university is supposed to be notified regardless of charges being filed.
1
@DragonDuck
Why, pray tell? Do enlighten us.
How is it that this is the coaches fault, he wasn't the one who is being the animal. As usual, they need to pin somebody else's actions on somebody who successful and try to bring them down, leave this guy alone!
4
@There Go back to the Sandusky case to understand a coach’s responsibility in reporting abuse, and what happens when it gets swept under the rug. Paterno was responsible then, and Meyer is responsible now.
5
@AinBmore
The alleged abuse was reported to the police by Courtney Smith. In fact, the police informed OSU. Apparently, there was insufficient evidence to charge and arrest Zach Smith. Is an employer supposed to take action over an unproven allegation when the authorities charged with enforcing the law concluded they did not have probable cause to pursue it? Where is the "cover up" here? Does a supervisor or employer have a right to get in the middle of a private divorce dispute?
Smith: "I didn't hit my wife, Urban. I just choked her." Meyer: "Well okay then, good boy. Here's your raise."
38
What’s more galling? The Meyer coverup or the enablement by “Buckeye Nation”? Sorry for the political reference, but one has to guess that those supporters in the photo also support the criminal in the White House.
37
I see the parallel. Their national pastime these days isn't fooball but willful ignorance.
5
So, the message from Ohio State is clear: it is perfectly fine to beat your wife, be a drug addict, access pornography, abuse financial trust, treat high school coached to strip clubs, have sex toys delivered to the office.
Such behavior will be rewarded with substantial raises.
And the enabling continues as do the excuses.
For shame.
96
How many people wish they had a boss like that for all the hard work they put in. However, I don’t like the notion of judging people about their finances, delinquent payments etc, it just seems like moralizing to me. I’ve been broke and many people are, so I don’t like it when people point to other people’s finances as somehow an indication of their low morality. There’s people who work hard and honestly and yet don’t get ahead financially! Let’s stick to the domestic abuse!!! And these card issues seem to be years old, so it seems they stopped, so let’s not dig up old stuff that’s tangentially related. If you look hard enough you’ll find moral or other problems with everybody!!!!
Having said that, returning to the boss issue, reading this makes me wonder how he would have been treated if he was a minority. They looked the other away at every turn and even rewarded him. Had he been black they probably would have tried to fire him even without any such behavior by making up reasons like “poor results.”
On the whole it’s sad to see the other world people inhabit, where there seem to be no consequences for poor behavior, while people out there sometimes get far greater punishment for lesser infringements. I guess Mr. Meyer is a dream boss!! This man’s behavior reminds me of Trump. Some people seem to be above the world, I guess.
7
@Frea
Well, I suspect the "card issues" disappeared when "Coach" Smith's salary went from $170,000 in 2015 to $300,000 in 2018. What a travesty. I wonder how the parents of students who attend The Ohio State University and don't play football feel about their children's tuition going to pay someone who sounds like an ideal candidate for "President" Trump's White House.
11
He made over $300k. We can certainly judge him for not being to pay his bills on time.
3
I doubt anyone’s tuition is paying for a coach’s salary. Ohio State football more than pays its own way.
1
The culture of an organization is defined by the worst behavior the leader will either condone or engages in.
24
@JMH
this certainly applies to the current white house and GOP.
He'll be on the sidelines for all the B1G games. That's what matters. I'm scoring this a wrist slap.
34
When Meyer says he followed his heart has he no heart for the woman being beaten? More stunning, the statement about Meyer having memory issues is on its face ridiculous. He can probably identify individual football plays from games from 30 years worth of games but doesn't remember the details of one of his coaches beating up that coaches wife?
140
Ohio State really loves its football. 3 games for what - and I quote the university's report: “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."
41
What a joke. The first three games of any Big Ten schools season are non conference sure things. The school isn't punishing the Coach, they rewarding him. He gets time off to rest before the actual season starts. The College knows it, the Coach knows it and the fans know it.
160
@Richard Mclaughlin
And the students know it. Great example for a university to set. They should lose their accrediation.
5
Most but not all. One's No. 16 in the preseason AP.
We'll miss you at JerryWorld, Urbie. Go Frogs!
Division One football is corrupt at its core, and it corrupts everything else it touches.
Ohio State, and a number of its peers, are best known for football and not their academic programs.
Ohioans should demand better. The rest of us should turn off the television so as not to be complicit.
48
@Cousy Thanks for denigrating my master’s degree.
You’re entitled to your opinion, but before making such sweeping statements, do your research. Many of these large institutions you speak of are huge research universities that are highly competitive. I didn’t choose to invest my time or money in OSU because of its football team.
It’s the Boosters of these schools that are most corrupt — they control everything. Everything. AD Gene Smith should have been fired years ago when Tressel was fired.
As for Ohio State’s academic record, this is from U.S. News & World Report:
Ohio State University--Columbus is ranked #54 in National Universities. Schools are ranked according to their performance across a set of widely accepted indicators of excellence.
#54 (tie) in National Universities
#22 (tie) in Best Colleges for Veterans
#17 (tie) in Best Undergraduate Teaching
6
@Mvroom
And No. 5 right now in football. We can see where Ohio's priorities are. And please, don't give us any of that garbage about sports brining in the bucks so the school can give scholarships, do research, etc.
@Cousy
One of those Ohioans is Courtney Smith. She dropped 2 different charges at 2 different times for the pursuit of a better meal plan at the country club. Why exactly are we sticking up for her. She already chose to not be a victim. We should respect her ignorance as well.
1
Missed signs? C'mon, this is a tired movie.
Before OSU, there was Baylor. Before that, Penn State. Not just football but also basketball and other sports. Those multi million contracts and alumni dollars are just too tempting to worry about abuses and education. Sweeping these inconvenient truths under the rug is the best course of action until the alumni got embarrassed.
No one is innocent. Not even the alumni who put their names on the stadiums. And NCAA?
At some point, parents should consider sending their children with lousy sport programs instead. They are probably cheaper with more solid education programs when educators focus on just teaching instead of chasing after the almighty dollar
80
@Bos Missing from this article is how the Powell OH police (suburb of Columbus) also messed up.
6
Hampshire College, founded in 1970, has no intercollegiate sports. But they do have a tee shirt which proudly (and ironically) states "Hampshire College Football: Undefeated Since 1970".
9
Also add to your Michigan State University (Dr. Larry Nassar) of another situation where signs were clearly, or perhaps conveniently, missed.
Nothing against sports (though the health risks of football - CTE- need to start being considered seriously) but sports, winning at all costs, and the almighty dollar seem to be the common denominators in all of these "missed signs" situations.
1
The three game suspension of Urban Meyer is a veiled response of the different way discipline is enforced on the powerful versus the plebeians. If Urban Meyer or President Drake do not have the courage to resign then the Trustees of the Ohio State University should fired them instead of considering the Meyer suspension a just response which in reality is a phrase .
26
Knowing about abuse committed by your subordinate, keeping them on the payroll anyway, attempting to cover up by deleting text messages, and lying about it to investigators are awful behaviors to any reasonable person. But I've seen a fair share of people try to perform mental gymnastics to somehow portray Urban Meyer as a victim. I hope those people don't have their own daughters fall victim to domestic abuse one day and then have their abuse covered up because a guy can teach kids to throw a ball.
109
After reading all this, why would anyone believe that Jim Jordan knew nothing about sex abuse at Ohio State?
87
This is why the guy keeps his job:
Would anyone outside Ohio ever even hear about Ohio State, and would it get millions in television revenue, were it not for the football team?
Of course not. It's the football team that makes it a "major" university.
Big-time college football ranks right up there with the Olympics and boxing when it comes to corruption.
56
@marks The Ohio State University is one of the five largest universities in the United States, one of the best universities in the U.S., and isn't just known for its 'football.' To say otherwise is demeaning to this university. P.S. I never attended OSU.
Meyer won the national championship at Ohio State with the team that was completely recruited by the previous coach.
5
You clearly have no idea what you are talking about. Ezekiel Elliot, Joey Bosa, Daron Lee, Taylor Decker and Von Bell (the first 4 being 1st round draft picks) were all recruited by Urban Meyer.
3
Once again, we see state university that refuses to hold its employees and supervisors accountable, despite irrefutable evidence of misconduct, fraud, and possibly more. Would a mere unpaid suspension be offered to a non-athletic university employee in the same situation?
92
As a Penn State alumnus who was an undergraduate when Joe Paterno became head football coach, I have seen programs transition to semi autonomous revenue generating machines. I don't have the foggiest notion of what Urban Meyer knew or didn't know anymore than what Joe Paterno knew regarding the sordid Gerry Sandusky saga. What is indisputable is that universities lose their raison d'etre the moment that any coach or university administrator fails to intuitively and immediately do what is right when made aware of deeds that violate moral behavior if not the law.
131
@Stu Sutin
Can anyone name a state where the highest paid state employee is not a head football coach? How crazy is that?
120
@ConfusedConnservative A state where the highest paid public employee isn't a football coach? Sure, Kentucky, where the highest paid public employee is John Calipari, the UK basketball coach. As a three time UK alum who grew up in Lexington, I've stopped watching college sports. Totally disgusting.
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@ConfusedConnservative Well, we're pretty backwards up here in the north woods, but in NH and VT, I'm pretty sure it's the head hockey coach, eh? (that may also apply to the University of Maine)
These ugly allegations and their underlying behaviors are all the consequence of making football--or any athletic activity--into an idol. Placing a game and its players above all other aspects of life will result in just such a skewed, warped self-image and resulting aberrent behaviors. Maybe $300K is too much to pay a coach but it's probably in the medium range of compensation.
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His heart and not his head? Wow. What a callous and insensitive comment. I have a daughter and this sends chills down my spine.
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@My Aim Is True:
That was my first reaction. All heart for the perpetrator. Nothing for the victim. And so it goes . . .
Like many Ohio State fans I have followed this story closely and it is a pleasure to read the Times' version as laid out here, with its professional reportage. This is a story that has everything about 21st Century society in it- allegations of domestic violence; the possibility and at times, it seemed, probability that the powerful might be dragged down by the actions and reactions of secondary characters; trial by media; the ethics and responsibilities of journalists who insert crib notes in their stories to insure that readers will not be required to think about its deeper meanings; the ease with which a story can be self-edited on line without the reporter answering for the change, or even acknowledging the need for retraction of the original; the selective dissemination of information so that conflicting variables can be excluded; the measured timing of released information in counterpoint to challenges to the reporters. In short, this story has everything that is bad about on-line journalistic practices, but that's not the worst of it. There is no doubt that Urban Meyer made mistakes and should be accountable for them and, as well, was not entirely honest or even transparent about his mistakes. But the reaction of the media and the millions of those who despise the Ohio State Buckeyes is alarming. Why is a college football coach held to a higher standard of behavior than corporate leaders, movie moguls, television executives and yes, the President of the US?
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@Jerry Meadows Corporate leaders, Catholic bishops and movie moguls have LOST THEIR JOBS for abuse and cover-ups. Hello? Good ol' boys network still alive and well in Ohio, so relax.
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@Jerry Meadows It is ironic that you've made numerous accusations regarding the Times' journalistic practices but failed to produce any evidence for them, in the same breath that you are complaining about unsubstantiated allegations and trial by media.
And the last question you asked is a classic example of whataboutism.
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@RJM
It is kind of hard to relax when I pay my taxes and read that our leaders don't pay theirs.
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