In a small auditorium Monday, Ohio State head football coach Urban Meyer strode to a podium and fielded questions about credibility, domestic violence and former receivers coach Zach Smith.
In the six weeks since Meyer was suspended by the university, the coach has apologized, re-apologized and clarified statements after each of his additions raised new concerns among critics.
Meyer rejoined the team this week after serving a suspension related to his handling of allegations against Smith. But he鈥檚 still missing points in his explanations.
A restraining order filed by against Smith by his ex-wife Courtney Smith led to the assistant鈥檚 firing, and a troubling pattern of domestic violence and workplace misconduct emerged as more information came to the surface. Ohio State鈥檚 Board of Trustees intervened, forming an independent working group to investigate Meyer.
Based on their findings, university trustees decided to suspend Meyer for failing 鈥渢o take sufficient management action relating to Zach Smith鈥檚 misconduct.鈥� But that decision didn鈥檛 sit well with everyone. One trustee, Jeffrey Wadsworth, chose to resign because he felt the punishment was too lenient.
Upon his return Monday, Meyer gave more mea culpas, but he also went to great lengths establishing extenuating circumstances for why he didn鈥檛 act sooner. He explained after hearing about police investigating Smith in 2015, he and Athletic Director Gene Smith monitored developments.
鈥淎s I was receiving updates, as it became close to the conclusion, what I was hearing back from law enforcement is that this was not domestic violence,鈥� Meyer said. 鈥淭hat this was a very nasty divorce, child custody issues involved, but it was not domestic violence.鈥�
Meyer reiterated this point over and over again. But the working group鈥檚 report found fault with Meyer and Smith鈥檚 decision鈥攕aying they relied too heavily on law enforcement. Instead, the report says, they should have alerted more university authorities so an internal investigation could commence.
Lead investigator Mary Jo White made that point specifically while announcing Meyer and Smith鈥檚 suspensions last month.
鈥淚n the domestic violence context especially, there are many cases in which abuse takes place but there is no arrest or criminal prosecution,鈥� White said. 鈥淎nd so simply relying on law enforcement to take action in the face of such allegations is not in our view an adequate response.鈥�
Throughout his suspension, Meyer insisted he did not turn a blind eye to domestic violence, and he still resists that characterization.
Asked by one reporter if he believed that Courtney Smith was ever a victim of domestic violence, Meyer said, 鈥淚 can only rely on what information I receive from the experts.鈥�
On Twitter, shortly before Monday鈥檚 press conference, Meyer wrote, 鈥淚 will always be sorry for what Courtney Smith and her family have gone through.鈥� And he added, 鈥淚 do not 鈥� never have and never will 鈥� condone domestic abuse.鈥�
Central to the domestic violence claims are text messages. Courtney Smith shared photos of a 2015 incident with Shelley Meyer, and the working group report cast doubt on Urban and Shelley Meyer鈥檚 claims they never spoke about the allegations.
Meyer heard about a similar incident between Zach and Courtney Smith in 2009 while he was coaching in Florida. The independent report shows Meyer and his wife Shelley doubted Courtney Smith鈥檚 account of what happened.
But the recently published photos from the Gainesville Police Department showing Courtney Smith with an apparent black eye after the episode.
鈥淐haracter is very important,鈥� Meyer said of his hiring of Zach Smith.
He justified the decision, noting two other schools gave him glowing recommendations.
鈥淲hen I was hiring him, I believed I hired the right guy,鈥� Meyer said. 鈥淚n hindsight now, I look back with all these other issues that took place during that time period, I did not hire the right guy.鈥�
, the Ohio State report found, included a trip to a strip club while recruiting, drug abuse, and having a sexual relationship with a secretary on the football staff. Running through a timeline leading to Smith鈥檚 firing, Meyer seemed more upset that he first learned of events from the police鈥攔ather than Smith himself.
When Meyer describes where he went wrong, he emphasizes his tendency to give second chances, completely setting aside the matter of domestic violence.
鈥淚 saw a guy with work-related issues, that had two children and an ex-wife that he needed to support the way a man鈥檚 supposed to support them,鈥� Meyer said. 鈥淎nd I went鈥攜ou know, I was suspended for the fact that I went too far in trying to help a guy with these work-related issues.鈥�
There鈥檚 also the question of Meyer鈥檚 text messages. When he turned his phone over to university authorities, it displayed no messages older than a year. Meyer insists he did not delete messages or set his phone to automatically delete them.
But the working group report notes he spoke with administrators about how to alter his phone settings to discard messages a year old or older.
