As the news broke Wednesday night that Urban Meyer would receive a three-game suspension for his lack of action in an alleged domestic violence accusations against assistant coach Zach Smith, there was no shock.
Twitter came alive -- as it always does -- but no one in the media seemed surprised that Meyer got a slap on the wrist even though he was negligent in monitoring a troubled employee, caught lying, suspected of deleting text messages and was arrogant from start to finish.
He Ohio State University apparently had two major concerns in its short investigation after Brett McMurphy broke the story of Smith's alleged actions, complete with pictures of bruised and battered ex-wife Courtney Smith:
A. Keeping a coach who has won more than 90 percent of his games, and B. keeping the payoff to Smith as low as possible.
Meyer is a great coach, second only to Alabama's Nick Saban among active coaches. Yet, Art Briles was a great coach at Baylor, Joe Paterno was at Penn State, Bobby Petrino at Arkansas, Rick Pitino at Louisville.
All were fired and all lied at some point.
The 23-page investigative report smells of a cover-up, justifying Meyer's lack of action, even though it detailed that Zach Smith had numerous issues that Meyer knew about or should have known about.
The report said:
The university report, which led trustees to suspend Meyer for three games for not following proper procedures in informing administrators about a troubled employee, details a long list of problematic conduct by the assistant football coach Zach Smith: a 2013 charge of drunken driving; running up a $600 or so bill at a strip club on a recruiting trip; failing to show up at scheduled recruiting visits at high schools; taking sexually explicit photos of himself at the White House during a team visit; an addiction to a stimulant prescription drug used to treat A.D.H.D. that resulted in his being admitted into a drug treatment facility; and having a sexual relationship with a secretary on the football staff.
It carefully did not mention Smith's alleged physical abuse of his ex-wife on at least two occasions. There is never a right time for a man to hit a woman or touch her in anger.
That's because He Ohio State University knows it is probably going to pay some financial damages to Courtney Smith since Meyer and Athletic Director Gene Smith were not proactive in stopping Zach Smith. Gene Smith is getting a two-week suspension without pay.
Former Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor got five games for trading his OSU paraphernalia for tattoos. Current North Carolina quarterback Chazz Surratt will serve a four-game suspension for selling the Nikes the school gave him.
And Meyer sits out three nonconference games, but he can conduct practices for two of the games.
This is a man who has five core values in big letters inside the OSU football complex and one is, "Treat Women With Respect.'
Something he failed to do. Something he failed to enforce on his staff. Something he lied about.
Meyer defended himself Wednesday night when he was asked what he would say if Courtney Smith were there.
"I'm sorry we are in this situation."
No one hit or choked Meyer. The only reason he is part of the equation was he failed to do the right thing at the right time, and when he lied to the media he was lying to the fans and everyone else in the world.
Meyer will win more games, maybe more national championships, but outside of He Ohio State University it won't matter as much.
Sports on 08/24/2018