Urban Meyer has missed the first three games of the college football season with the Ohio State Buckeyes because he was suspended over his “mishandling” of the allegations of domestic violence by Courtney Smith against one of his coaches, Zach Rice. Meyer has been repeatedly asked to explain his position and reasoning about the allegations, and he has repeatedly underwhelmed everyone who isn’t a staunch Ohio State fan with his responses.
In his latest interview, he has refused to outright apologize for his handling of the situation, instead he chose to talk about how he gave a bad perception,
“I apologize for the perception… that as the result of this investigation I did not take the allegation (of domestic violence) seriously enough.”
Meyer said that he should have fired Zach Smith when the allegations arose in 2015, but when questioned about why Zach Smith was hired without telling Buckeyes management he was aware of Smith’s 2009 arrest and police report, he says he could not remember.
Meyers also declined to explain why his wife did not tell him, or school management, about the 2015 allegations of domestic violence against Zach Smith which she received via text message.
“She has reasoning for why she didn’t react,” Meyer said. “And I’m not here to speak for Shelley, but she had a reasoning and her reasoning was what it was. That’s why she did not alert me or just go anywhere else with it.”
Overall Meyer has been caught in a web of half truths (at best) that he can’t seem to disentangle himself from, and it appears he has prioritized the success of his football programs at multiple schools over the safety and wellbeing of the family of one of his coaches.
Watch the interviews of Meyers, Zach Smith and Courtney Smith below.