Urb's Day Of Reckoning Approaches

The investigation into whether Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer responded properly to the 2015 abuse allegations against ex-assistant coach Zach Smith have been concluded.  The University Trustees will make recommendations to OSU President Michael Drake, who will announce his ruling tomorrow.

And sometimes they should get nervous.

Did Meyer respond properly?  That's the big question.  Based on his initial statement, his words, the answer is no.  Meyer was aware of Zach Smith's domestic violence problem going back to 2009 at Florida.  Virtually everyone on the football staff was aware of the 2015 incident, including Meyer.  Yet in his initial statement on Media Day, a day after Smith was fired, he claimed he was unaware it until Smith was let go, i.e. until the day before.

In his subsequent lawyer-crafted press release after being placed on leave, Meyer's memory had been refreshed and he changed his tune -- he said that he "always followed proper reporting protocols and procedures" and did so after the 2015 incident.  So now he said that despite his Media Day denial, his actions were proper.  Maybe he did report it, maybe his actions were in fact proper.   If so, why claim ignorance on Media Day?  Could he really have forgotten his proper reporting?

And I'm with Dispatch columnist Rob Oller on this larger point:  Meyer first knew about Zach Smith's spousal abuse in 2009, and the issue with Smith kept coming back for the next nine years.  Yet Meyer kept Smith on his staff the whole time.  In retrospect, Urban would probably like a Mulligan on that one.

I trust that Drake and the Trustees will not be influenced by the predictable blame-the-victim stories which have painted Smith's ex-wife Courtney as an unstable nut disliked by her own mother.  Even if she is, that's beside the point.

The question is, did Meyer respond properly to the 2015 allegations?  We'll all get OSU's official answer tomorrow.  

The University could send a message and come down hard on him.  Tressel was canned for trinkets and tattoos.  But Urban Meyer is a really big fish in the pond of college football.  His penalty will probably be fairly light.  I'm no prognosticator, but I predict a one-game suspension.