Urbie might be available sooner than we thought...

[gmartin]

After the 2009 incident Urban and Shelly got counseling for Zach Smith and his wife. Things must have got better from the counseling but again in 2015 Zach assaulted his wife again. Some women are feared of leaving after being abused.

[jpfalcon09]

After the 2009 incident Urban and Shelly got counseling for Zach Smith and his wife. Things must have got better from the counseling but again in 2015 Zach assaulted his wife again. Some women are feared of leaving after being abused.

They also had children and wanted to try and make things work for their sake. Abusive men are also extremely manipulative and will often try to make the woman feel like the victim.

[FalconTurf]

After the 2009 incident Urban and Shelly got counseling for Zach Smith and his wife. Things must have got better from the counseling but again in 2015 Zach assaulted his wife again. Some women are feared of leaving after being abused.

I agree. It makes me very uneasy to hear people state exactly how his wife should have reacted to the situation. We've all seen toxic relationships that we are all certain one of the couple should leave but for a variety of reasons does not. Casting judgement on the wife is not helpful.

[pdt1081]

I agree with the above 3 posts. Still don't see where this hullabaloo with Urban fits in.

[MarkL]

There is no proof other than his second go at a comment on the situation that Urban did anything. Other than keep the guy on staff, therefore effectively condoning this behavior. All we have is his word, and we all know what a major coach's word means.
Remember. He said in a press conference he knew nothing about the 2015 situation. Then after being placed on leave he said (via his lawyer no doubt) that he did know. So somewhere he lied.
Maybe he didn't know about the 2015 incident and he told the truth at the media days press conference. If that's the case, he lied in his recent statement. And it also shows some incompetence - he should know what his staff is up to.
Or he did know. And reported to the department, which was inadequate in their response. In which case he lied, and kept the guy on staff, enabling him to continue abusing his wife.
Truthfully there's no outcome I see where Urban, the AD Smith, or someone else big, or maybe all of the above are still around. Urban seems to know this too as he threw the athletic department under the bus with his recent statement, so he's trying to cover himself, either for Ohio State or for a future job.
With the season approaching and assured instability, this will be resolved soon. I bet we will know something next week.
And as a guy who respects Meyer and loves the sport, this is bad. And of course awful for a family enduring abuse by a physically powerful husband and father.

[Flipper]

Don't know how you can conclude that things "must have gotten better" in the Smith household post 2009...

[daspollak]

New information comes out about this is Zach Smith. In 2009 he assaulted his wife who was 9 weeks pregnant at the time. He came home in 2009 drunk one evening. Although he was married and his wife was pregnant he was on a date with get this, Urban Meyer's secretary. While drunk he referred to the secretary as babe and called his wife a b****. Then later that evening he assaulted his wife.

Here's a question I've yet to hear an answer to. If this crap started in 09, why was the wife still with him? If the wife didn't press charges, what was Urban supposed to do? The guy was obviously on the road a lot, so it's not like she didn't have the chance to leave him. She chose to stay, and is now trying to drag Urban down? Why does this story not make sense being an actual story?

Sorry, that's more than one question. I only ask because it's been a subject of discussion on the radio the last 2 days, and it's only ever should he stay or be fired, never much detail.

Her husband had a fast track to top level coaching jobs. Maybe she thought it would stop if he had a lot to lose. She could of feared the type of influence and resources he might of had in a custody battle. Many victims are scared of what might happen to their family, and are often reluctant to follow through with changes. Some go as far to blame themselves.

[pdt1081]

Her husband had a fast track to top level coaching jobs. Maybe she thought it would stop if he had a lot to lose. She could of feared the type of influence and resources he might of had in a custody battle. Many victims are scared of what might happen to their family, and are often reluctant to follow through with changes. Some go as far to blame themselves.

Or is she just looking for a payday?

Then again, haven't heard much about the wrestlers since this all started.

[Beaker]

The 2009 incident was out there as public record. Zach Smith was arrested and charged with felonious assault against his wife. When the university approved Zach Smith to be on their coaching staff and started sending him paychecks, they were aware (or at least certainly should have and easily could have with just minimal vetting, been aware) of past allegations of his violent behavior against his wife. An article I read said that Courtney Smith asked that the charges be dropped in that incident.

It's since been reported that Powell police had multiple reports taken for calls regarding the Smith situation, so it's pretty clear that this behavior had gone on for a long time. Kids or no kids, she should have taken some responsibility to get herself out of that environment. If you are in a household where domestic violence is occurring with regularity, then the best thing to do for your kids is to get them out of there and not allow them to be repeatedly exposed to it and potentially victimized, themselves. Staying together "for the kids" in the face of that kind of abuse is the wrong thing to do in my opinion. I read that Zach Smith was 24 years old at the time of the 2009 arrest. I have to wonder if they even had any kids yet at that time?

I'm not defending Zach Smith in any way. If these allegations are all true then he's a piece of excrement that deserves to have his career wrecked and he should be serving prison time. It's not blaming Courtney for his behavior to say that she should have had enough sense to get herself away from him long before she did. I have a problem with her running to the media to tell her story instead of going to the police every time she experienced an assault and asking them to press charges and then follow through with supporting the prosecution. She should have sent those pictures to the police, instead of texting them to a football coach's wife, then going in front of tv cameras to try to bring down a program. I don't know why she would have waited until after her ex-husband was fired to go to the media, other than realizing the 6 figure salary that funded her alimony/child support payments just got cut off and she was going to need a new source of funding, namely, a settlement from O$U.

I agree with Mark that Meyer clearly lied at the media day or he lied in his recent statement. They both can't be true. He definitely could have and should have handled things differently but for anyone to say this is all his responsibility and he should be fired should remember that Zach and Courtney Smith are adults and should be taking responsibility for what they did and didn't do.

I freely admit that I despise the evil empire in Columbus and I also still, and forever will, hold a grudge against Urban for the way he left BG, but making this all about him as the media seems to be doing is ridiculous.

[daspollak]

Her husband had a fast track to top level coaching jobs. Maybe she thought it would stop if he had a lot to lose. She could of feared the type of influence and resources he might of had in a custody battle. Many victims are scared of what might happen to their family, and are often reluctant to follow through with changes. Some go as far to blame themselves.

Or is she just looking for a payday?

Then again, haven't heard much about the wrestlers since this all started.

Payday from who? I love it when people start blaming the victim. She only let him hit her, so she could sue years down the road.

[daspollak]

The 2009 incident was out there as public record. Zach Smith was arrested and charged with felonious assault against his wife. When the university approved Zach Smith to be on their coaching staff and started sending him paychecks, they were aware (or at least certainly should have and easily could have with just minimal vetting, been aware) of past allegations of his violent behavior against his wife. An article I read said that Courtney Smith asked that the charges be dropped in that incident.

It's since been reported that Powell police had multiple reports taken for calls regarding the Smith situation, so it's pretty clear that this behavior had gone on for a long time. Kids or no kids, she should have taken some responsibility to get herself out of that environment. If you are in a household where domestic violence is occurring with regularity, then the best thing to do for your kids is to get them out of there and not allow them to be repeatedly exposed to it and potentially victimized, themselves. Staying together "for the kids" in the face of that kind of abuse is the wrong thing to do in my opinion. I read that Zach Smith was 24 years old at the time of the 2009 arrest. I have to wonder if they even had any kids yet at that time?

I'm not defending Zach Smith in any way. If these allegations are all true then he's a piece of excrement that deserves to have his career wrecked and he should be serving prison time. It's not blaming Courtney for his behavior to say that she should have had enough sense to get herself away from him long before she did. I have a problem with her running to the media to tell her story instead of going to the police every time she experienced an assault and asking them to press charges and then follow through with supporting the prosecution. She should have sent those pictures to the police, instead of texting them to a football coach's wife, then going in front of tv cameras to try to bring down a program. I don't know why she would have waited until after her ex-husband was fired to go to the media, other than realizing the 6 figure salary that funded her alimony/child support payments just got cut off and she was going to need a new source of funding, namely, a settlement from O$U.

I agree with Mark that Meyer clearly lied at the media day or he lied in his recent statement. They both can't be true. He definitely could have and should have handled things differently but for anyone to say this is all his responsibility and he should be fired should remember that Zach and Courtney Smith are adults and should be taking responsibility for what they did and didn't do.

I freely admit that I despise the evil empire in Columbus and I also still, and forever will, hold a grudge against Urban for the way he left BG, but making this all about him as the media seems to be doing is ridiculous.

Its easy to say that as someone who I presume is in a normal and healthy relationship. Unfortunately, many women who experience domestic violence don't always see the actions as the husband's fault. One of the reasons DV is hard to prosecute is the wife/gf will be reluctant to work with the prosecution. A lot of times when this is clear, no charges are filed, or they are dropped very quickly. No DA wants to go to court to have their witness not testify, and lose their case. (Hurts their conviction numbers which is also bad.) As for why Courtney Smith stayed as long as she did, only she can answer for. However, she didn't just run to the media with this, it happened almost 3yrs after the incidents and around two years after they divorced.

http://www.thehotline.org/is-this-abuse ... tionships/" target="_blank

[Flipper]

Shame and a general denial that you're actually in the s**t situation you're in can lead all types of people...men, women, children...into a sense of reluctance to proactively work to remove themselves from a situation.

There's talk that Urbie has a contract clause that allows him to be terminated if he doesn't address instances of violent behavior by anyone in the program. This would be entirely separate from the Title IX requirements that will certainly end his wife's career at OSU. If he knew this was an ongoing problem...F**K him.

[Beaker]

The money she will no doubt be receiving will come from the university under threat of a civil lawsuit. I've spent 22 years in a career where I deal routinely with civil torts and resulting lawsuits. Based on that, I can attest that while the facts of a case are relevant, it's also entirely possible to get a judgement based on sympathy from a jury, regardless of what the facts are. Going to the media puts the story of her victimization to everyone in the potential jury pool and paints the university and it's employees (the Meyers), as being indifferent to her suffering and failing to take action to stop it. I suspect she's under the guidance of an attorney who set up the media interview and knows full well he can get a nice settlement out of the university without having to take it to trial. The university wants this to go away in the worst way, especially in light of other stories in the media that are giving O$U a black eye.

I don't think for a minute that she let it go on as long as she did because it was her long term plan to get a pay day. As far as her timing for going to the media, she did that only after her ex-husband lost his source of revenue, so yes, it's my opinion that the act of putting it out to the media was financially motivated. Maybe she had the interests of her kids' long term financial stability in mind. Who has deeper pockets than Ohio State athletic department?

I agree with Daspollak that there are lots of obstacles to getting convictions. The victim has to be willing to participate and assist and without that, prosecutors are left with very little ammo. I do understand that there may be any number of factors that motivate people to stay in abusive relationships that I have no first hand knowledge of and will never understand. I suppose this isn't the best forum for an in depth discussion of DM. I'm thankful beyond words to have been raised by great parents that instilled proper values in their kids. A lot of folks don't get to grow up in that kind of household, which is terribly unfortunate.

[Flipper]

Look Beaker..if you're going to be all articulate and well thought out in your arguments...well...you can just get the hell off the internet right now

[pdt1081]

Payday from who? I love it when people start blaming the victim. She only let him hit her, so she could sue years down the road.

I know someone who was in a situation where a female tried to antagonize him to the point he'd hit her. Luckily, he recognized what was going on and was able to get out before that happened. Had he not, the police would have been called, etc, just like the person before him. There is a lot of crazy in this world.

So, no, not blaming the victim. Just saying that sometimes, there's more to a story than meets the eye.