Urban Meyer Knew of Abuse Allegations Against Ohio State Coach in 2015

[money3189]

Urban is a great coach but he is a big liar. The blue blood programs cover up stuff to protect their brand. The more success they have the more exteme they get at covering up. Society and the sports world in general has put too much pressure on winning. Urban just got sloppy. Grandfather connection or not, he should have got rid of the guy after it happened again in 2015. He can get any top Wr coach and recruiter in the country.

 

[RF2044]

it's an electable thing these days too! I care less if he lied to the media. I'm really gunshy about the mob mentality these days with stuff like this before we have a real account from Urban on what they were doing behind the scenes regarding this situation. I would think it was a sensitive situation that they were not gonna play out in the media to make matters worse. Again, we're just speculating on 100 things.

It's a terrible situation for Ms. Smith. She's the victim. To just fire hose Urban Meyer without knowing really anything more than her account and no response from Urban's wife either.

Liken this to the Boeheim situation w Fine. If we went on the initial story, before hearing from Jim, we would have immediately had him fired for not doing more to stop Bernie Fine, the supposed s e xual predator.

Terrific post.

And just to be clear, I loathe Ohio State -- would love to see Urban perish in flames, but I agree 100% about your mob mentality / rush to judgement / case tried in the sensationalist media when only one side of the story is known tendency that has become pervasive in recent years.

Feel really bad for Courtney Smith.

 

[money3189]

So he lied to media, that happens all the time. If Meyer’s story is the following, why would he be held accountable?

1. The WR coach and his wife were separated in 2015.
2. Police investigated
3. She told the wives
4. Meyer confronted him (as per her story) and he denied it to Meyer
5. Meyer knew about the police investigation

Since they were separated she wasn’t in immediate danger. Since the coach denied it there is a he said she said situation. Since the police investigated, it was already reported. So what else was Meyer to do? Sure he could have fired the coach but at the same time that likely puts her in more danger.

He's accountable because he hired a guy who is a domestic abuser. Its under his watch. This guy has cause bad publicity to the team and school. Its a big distraction. Just like he chose to hire him, Urban had a choice to help him or fire him. It ultimately ended up hurting him.

 

[elimunelson]

He's accountable because he hired a guy who is a domestic abuser. Its under his watch. This guy has cause bad publicity to the team and school. Its a big distraction. Just like he choose to hire him, Urban had a chose to help him or fire him. It ultimately ended up hurting him.

Just like Boeheim hiring Devendorf who hit a girl at Syracuse when he was playing. Don't play this game because your house will be exposed as bad.

All i'm saying is let's hear from the guy who is getting a Salem Witch Trial because we all want to see Ohio St burn in flames. I get the notion of "heavy is the head that wears the crown" but it has touched us with the hoops program, unfairly mind you, and hate to see it happen elsewhere without some semblance of due process. You guys may be right and Urban is a tremendous scum bag who knew and was all about the football over safety for this woman but i want to know more (maybe i'm in the minority)
.

 

[RF2044]

Just like Boeheim hiring Devendorf who hit a girl at Syracuse when he was playing. Don't play this game because your house will be exposed as bad.

All i'm saying is let's hear from the guy who is getting a Salem Witch Trial because we all want to see Ohio St burn in flames. I get the notion of "heavy is the head that wears the crown" but it has touched us with the hoops program, unfairly mind you, and hate to see it happen elsewhere without some semblance of due process. You guys may be right and Urban is a tremendous scum bag who knew and was all about the football over safety for this woman but i want to know more (maybe i'm in the minority)
.

And also in relation to what happened in our "heavy is the head that wears the crown situation," the same media types who were screaming for Boeheim to be fired after he torched those two bozos who'd accused Fine, categorizing it as a money grab in a post-game press conference, were the same ones who were okay with him remaining after he had a contrite apology in the press conference after our next game.

Very odd social dynamics, IMO. A guy's career can be ruined because of something that he is only indirectly associated with, but as long as he apologizes, says the right things, and expresses remorse -- that makes everything all better?

This ties back to the point above about what Urban said to the media -- why should that factor in here?

Can't believe that I am defending Meyer / OSU... I just find witch hunts unsavory.

 

[money3189]

Just like Boeheim hiring Devendorf who hit a girl at Syracuse when he was playing. Don't play this game because your house will be exposed as bad.

All i'm saying is let's hear from the guy who is getting a Salem Witch Trial because we all want to see Ohio St burn in flames. I get the notion of "heavy is the head that wears the crown" but it has touched us with the hoops program, unfairly mind you, and hate to see it happen elsewhere without some semblance of due process. You guys may be right and Urban is a tremendous scum bag who knew and was all about the football over safety for this woman but i want to know more (maybe i'm in the minority)
.

Ive always liked Meyer. I actually prefer him over Saban. I dont want OSU to suffer. They are good for college football. Whats wrong is wrong. Just based off the information we have, IMO he should have been let go. Urban tried to help him and he kept doing it. Loyalty can get you in trouble. Meyer covered up many things. He enabled Hernandez and recommended him to NE knowing his flaws. Meyer is great but he is not perfect. We just have to be careful of the choices we make while pursuing championships. This a continous pattern with Meyer. Im not basing my opinion off this one incident.

 

[hoopsupstate]

Meyer left Florida in a mess. He covered up numerous events when he was there and enabled Hernandez. Even ex players were scared of Hernandez and now he wants us to believe he knew nothing about the abuse of one of his coaches. He’s a creep and should be out of coaching. The Big 10 has had one PR mess after another. OSU is dealing with Meyer and the wrestling mess with Jim Jordan.

 

[ForCuseSake]

RF2044 and elimunelson make great points about rushing to judgment and the mob mentality frequently displayed

it's an electable thing these days too! I care less if he lied to the media. I'm really gunshy about the mob mentality these days with stuff like this before we have a real account from Urban on what they were doing behind the scenes regarding this situation. I would think it was a sensitive situation that they were not gonna play out in the media to make matters worse. Again, we're just speculating on 100 things.

It's a terrible situation for Ms. Smith. She's the victim. To just fire hose Urban Meyer without knowing really anything more than her account and no response from Urban's wife either.

Liken this to the Boeheim situation w Fine. If we went on the initial story, before hearing from Jim, we would have immediately had him fired for not doing more to stop Bernie Fine, the supposed s e xual predator.

I agree with you and RF2044 about rushing to judgment and the mob mentality so frequently displayed in these situations.

What makes me lean toward picking up a pitchfork is Urban's flat out denial when asked directly by the media.

Urban could've responded with a brief comment about how tragic the situation was because it involved two people close to him and the program. That it's a deeply personal circumstance that probably doesn't warrant discussion at a college football press conference (blah blah blah).

And if the reporter pushed for further comment he could've easily proposed to respond later or take the conversation "offline."

Like most here, I loathe Ohio State and love watching them get knocked down a peg or two. I couldn't care less about Meyer specifically so I'm not holding a pitchfork while looking for my torch.

 

[CuseLegacy]

 

[Finwad32]

So they’re keeping him.

 

[CuseLegacy]

 

[CuseLegacy]

 

[CuseLegacy]

 

[Whitey23]

Seems like they are coordinating their defenses.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

I guess my prediction will be wrong. Meyer will be back in a week. The SportsCenter interview will be enough.

I like McMurphy so I hope he did his homework and didn’t just take her side of the story. At this point his career might be in bigger jeopardy than Meyer.

 

[Alsacs]

I guess my prediction will be wrong. Meyer will be back in a week. The SportsCenter interview will be enough.

I like McMurphy so I hope he did his homework and didn’t just take her side of the story. At this point his career might be in bigger jeopardy than Meyer.

 

[Alsacs]

 

[Alsacs]

If Ohio State keeps Meyer I blame it on Trump being President and numbing the country to despicable behavior from people in power.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

If Ohio State keeps Meyer I blame it on Trump being President and numbing the country to despicable behavior from people in power.

Her story isn’t adding up. Why in 2015 when they were separated did she not press charges? She was on her way to divorce. We are to believe that the AD, Meyer, the other coaches wives, and the police all did nothing to protect a WR coach?

What did Meyer do wrong to warrant a firing? Meyer’s side of the story is the WR coach saying he didn’t hit her and the police not taking her side.

 

[Ish88888]

On ESPNU radio they mentioned his reworked contract specifically mentioned he was responsible for these types of issues. And even if he wasn't, if he knew about it (which I believe he did), no school nor employer is going to stand behind the Head Coach/CEO for doing nothing.

I understand. So even if these coaches are the best babysitters and in tune with the home life of all associated with OSU football and tell the AD; What does that result in? It doesn't stop the repeated crime. She never filed charges. This will take him down and i don't even like him but i must say, there are coaches out there that will keep their jobs having done far worst.

Question against him is why not fire this jerk in 2015? Urban will go down but i think his heart was in a good place. The "victim" was talking to alot if people, mostly coaches wives, never pressed charges but UM was supposed to swoop in and save her. College coaches are powerful, but they cant follow every assistant home and make sure allbis swell...

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Meyer has no incentive to go all in on being innocent of wrong doing. If he was wrong, tOSU would fire him then within 2 years someone else would hire him. Now that he has dug in, if he is found to be wrong he will never be a HC ever again. That is a huge risk for no real gain.

 

[Alsacs]

Meyer has no incentive to go all in on being innocent of wrong doing. If he was wrong, tOSU would fire him then within 2 years someone else would hire him. Now that he has dug in, if he is found to be wrong he will never be a HC ever again. That is a huge risk for no real gain.

All Urban did in his statement was protect himself for being fired for cause.
His lawyers drafted a statement that acknowledges he knew about the past stuff in 2015 and he lied at media day which isn’t grounds for being fired for cause.

 

[Ish88888]

So this is all the victim's fault? Why not go further and say, she made him hit, push and choke her? She made him send threatening texts to her after they got a divorce. So maybe I was wrong in the first question...she is not the victim...the ex-husband, Urban Meyer and anyone who knew are the victims.

I think your post may have made the Top 10 for dumbest posts...congrats!

Whatever, no need to be rude about it. You are putting words in my mouth. She is the victim, he is a jerk, he should have been fired sooner by UM. thing is UM didnt commit these crimes and him knowing and relaying information does what for her? Does it protect her?

 

[gocraz4dasu]

Ahhhh, the tried and true JoePa excuse of "I reported significant abuses I was made aware of to my immediate superior so that absolves me of all responsibility."

Urban admitted in his statement that he was aware of the abuses that occurred or at least the accusations and his only response is to report it to the AD...? Maybe that gives him that layer of protection he so-covets for his job safety (which there should be documentation backing up if he reported it as he says, since it is a Title IX issue), but at what point is a coach punished for only doing the absolute bare minimum to protect to people against someone you have been made aware of that very well might be a POS? These aren't some small allegations of one time small occurrence, they are repetitive behaviors and Urban's mentor and also his right-hand man went to the victim to try and get her to not pursue charges in the past. When exactly do we hold someone in a position of power (which Urban certainly is, he could have fired Smith at any point and replaced him in a week) higher than the bare minimum? Urban isn't a 19 year kid, he's a grown man that should have learnt his lesson at Florida regarding turning a blind-eye to horrible behavior. Just because he pointed the finger at his AD doesn't mean he doesn't deserve blame. You can't preach respect women and then do next-to-nothing when a woman potentially being beaten by a member of your staff is brought to your attention. He (maybe) reported the allegations to the AD, does he just never follow up about it? It's BS.

I'm tired of the "I told someone else" so you can't fire me excuse. Each person reports it to their suerior until it gets to the board and then they have cover because the board is made up of multiple people, so they can say they lost on a vote. Everyone is protected and the behavior/action never gets addressed/corrected.

 

[KosonWarrior]

He repeatedly physically abused his wife. Urban knew about it. Then he lied about knowing about it. Those are the facts based on everything out there. Now it is up to Ohio State University to decide if that is enough to fire him or the wins and money are more important. My money is on a few games suspension.