Lawyer: OSU Has Never Contacted Courtney Smith to Investigate Allegations
Courtney Smith mentioned this in the initial reporting, but we now have more detailed comments from her lawyer, Julia Leveridge, to Brett McMurphy (emphasis added):
Courtney Smith is currently involved in two legal matters, criminal trespass involving her ex-husband Zach Smith, and a domestic violence civil protection order she has obtained to ensure her ongoing safety. Ms. Smith will have no further comments until these matters have been resolved. Her focus remains on caring for her two small children and continuing her nursing studies.
As her attorney, I can tell you that Ms. Smith is cautiously optimistic that The Ohio State University’s investigative committee will determine if proper reporting protocol was followed upon learning of the ongoing, abuse allegations against Zach Smith. We believe the University must prioritize the safety and well-being of others above all else. While The Ohio State University has never contacted Ms. Smith to discuss these allegations, she will fully cooperate with the university’s current investigation.
What's striking about this is that this statement was made yesterday. That is to say, even with an investigation ongoing, OSU hasn't yet contacted Courtney Smith to get her side of the story, though they may do so within the next week.
August 7th, 2018 at 10:21 AM ^
Seriously?
Are you aware Hernandez shot someone in the head while he was at Florida and was never suspended or had any discipline? The investigation didn't go anywhere even though it made the news at the time.
A Michigan receiver groped a girl outside a bar and was suspended for most of a year. When the allegations against Hernandez came out when he was with the Patriots, he was immedieately suspended. Urban in his role as GM of a college team never punished a player when they were needed to help the team win. Not if he could help it.
August 7th, 2018 at 10:53 AM ^
@hgb4529
Weak apologism. Your coach employed a known spouse abuser. He brought him in from Temple and renewed his contract twice.
You be you though; you clearly have a defensible position here. /smh
#Sad
August 7th, 2018 at 10:39 AM ^
I've been there and while there are reasonable voices, they are in the minority. They mostly think Meyer should have just said "No comment" and went about their business. They'd prefer not to know, assume nothing bad happened, and keep Urban.
I agree if you extrapolate my assumption you'll surely find reasonable and conscious OSU fans in regards to this situation. I'm more or less looking for someone within the university... AD, coach, president, janitor to say how shitty it is that because of domestic abuse they have to take care of this stuff.
August 7th, 2018 at 10:13 AM ^
I had this same conversation with my wife. Not a single statement from OSU apologizing for Zak Smiths actions or empathizing for any form of domestic abuse. Cant say I'm surprised, considering the source.
August 7th, 2018 at 10:22 AM ^
Please don't be a snowflake too! So OSU should apologize for all forms of domestic abuse that have ever happened? Maybe issue an apology about slavery and rape too? The Holocaust too, right?
Obviously we know OSU and other institutions DOES NOT condone DV or other forms of violence. Why should they pander to us? We need to stop being a PC, soft, weak society that looks for virtue signalling. OSU will clearly issue a statement when the investigation is finished and then you can go back to your safe space with statement in hand.
August 7th, 2018 at 10:25 AM ^
OSU might say they don't. But obviously Urban didn't get that memo. He got the lip service down right. But he employed a guy who was a known perpetrator of domestic violence for 9 years. According to Urban, he let Gene Smith know 3 years ago and the abuser got his contract renewed and received raises. That kinda sounds like condoning DV if it means more wins.
August 7th, 2018 at 10:55 AM ^
@hgb4523
MGoBlog needs to stop being a "PC, soft, weak board" that looks for virtue in posting and instead runs bullshit troll posters like yourself with far more immediacy.
Jeebus clown. Just stop.
August 7th, 2018 at 11:51 AM ^
Please don't put words in my mouth....I never said he had to apologize for all that.... Im talking all forms that Smith committed... That's it...... Don't be so simple minded and so quick to jump someone.....All forms of domestic abuse mean verbal (Threats) and physical (hitting, grabbing and choking) If you want to be taken serious, don't come off as ignorant....I for one am not soft on any of these issues. Keeping a staff member on for three years and not apologizing for looking into allegations is reason alone to apologize.....Tough guy
August 7th, 2018 at 12:26 PM ^
OSU doesn’t need to apologize for all forms of domestic violence, just the domestic violence that comes from one of their employees while employed by the football team
August 7th, 2018 at 12:22 PM ^
How does one lurk for however long, then create an account in 2014 and only amass 3 points over the next 2.5 years? Impressive...
Easy I did......
August 7th, 2018 at 10:23 AM ^
I agree with this.
I don't really care if Urban Meyer reported stuff in 2015 or not. OSU has already proven that they're not above lying through their teeth to make this go away. Urban's best defense of his B1G Media Day gong show was simply, "Yeah, I lied". I find that incredible.
And now they're going to take 3 weeks and sit around a table with a bunch of lawyers and come out on the other end and state, "Yep, we did everything right the whole way." Sorry. Bullshit. Maybe by some miracle they did, but that doesn't explain or excuse so many other issues. The lying, the coordinated media blitz on Friday, and at the very least the continued employment of Zach Smith despite knowing his serial pattern of criminal behavior.
At the end of the day, I have to put myself in the shoes of OSU President Michael Drake. How can you watch this crap unfold at your university and just shrug it off? How would Mark Schlissel respond to this nonsense? Your entire athletic department looks like cockroaches scurrying when the light flicks on. You're okay with that? You're a university president. You're just going to chalk it up to dirty, big time athletics? I can't even imagine that.
I don't have a rooting interest in Urban Meyer getting fired. Sure, I'd love for OSU to suck for a while, but that's not the point. I'm exhausted by watching episodes like this and the clown show in East Lansing absolutely fly off the morality tracks. Nobody gives a shit about right and wrong. It's dollars and wins and tribalism at the cost of absolutely anybody who gets in the way. I'm rooting for anyone to stand up and say, "Okay, I admit this was bad. I made mistakes and I'm at fault." I don't care who. Urban Meyer, Joe Paterno, Art Briles, Hugh Freeze, John Engler, I don't give a shit. Can one person stand up and be a decent human being? Is that seriously too much to ask?
August 7th, 2018 at 10:29 AM ^
They're OK with it because he wins. Guy who organized the rally was on the radio talking about what a great guy Urban is and how he hasn't done anything wrong. First he said he knows Urban personally. Then he recanted and said he met him. Then he said he goes to practices. But he still knows Urban's a great guy who wins a lot of games.
Not joking. That guy came off the the biggest homer ever and was unable to address the actual issues other than that Urban needs support in all this.
August 7th, 2018 at 10:44 AM ^
I'm rooting for anyone to stand up and say, "Okay, I admit this was bad. I made mistakes and I'm at fault." I don't care who. Urban Meyer, Joe Paterno, Art Briles, Hugh Freeze, John Engler, I don't give a shit. Can one person stand up and be a decent human being? Is that seriously too much to ask?
I couldn't agree more, but it will never happen. The incentives are too high to do that because it will mean career suicide. None of those people are willing to put morals above money and material success.
August 7th, 2018 at 10:52 AM ^
Even more remarkably, Urban lied about lying. In his statement he never said he lied, but rather that he unintentionally said things that weren't true because he wasn't sufficiently "prepared" to talk about the Zach Smith situation from three years prior.
August 7th, 2018 at 10:59 AM ^
Yeah, Ira Weintraub was laughing about that on WTKA yesterday. Oh, Urban was unprepared? Ira played his opening remarks at Media Day and they were basically:
"It's great to be here representing Ohio State University. Obviously we had to let a coach go this week..."
He opened with Zach Smith stuff! One of the first sentences out of his mouth, yet we're supposed to believe he was unprepared to answer any questions about that? It's so awful you have to laugh. And that's what I'm taking about. How can you go home and look yourself in the mirror? I seriously couldn't do it. Just flat out lie your ass off to anyone and everyone with zero remorse.
August 7th, 2018 at 11:20 AM ^
Good point about the OSU President. That school is and will always be known as primarily a football factory unless and until someone in authority steps in and says “no, there are more important things than football here.” I wonder if Drake might be the guy to do that, although he might be risking his tenure and alumni donations if he did.
August 7th, 2018 at 12:15 PM ^
unfortunately, when UM pulled down the fab 5 banners on its own after its own investigation, it likely marked the last time a university will self-punish appropriately. every scandal since then, and going forward, will be denied, minimized and shrugged-off unless outside authorities come in. and we all know the ncaa is feckless and weak.
it's football season. OSU can't be bothered with this inconvenience for someone who is going to get a token 2 game suspension anyway
August 7th, 2018 at 10:13 AM ^
I find it interesting that public opinion last week was "it's hard to see Urban keeps his job". This week "it's hard to see him not returning to his job". I wonder what we will think next week.
My own hot take is that OSU won't fire Urban unless it has to. So far no one has said enough (if in fact Urban reported the allegations) to warrant them firing him. And, I doubt they will dig deep enough to look for something to fire him over. They probably don't want the truth (so long as it doesn't become public). They probably just want to know he reported it and while they don't like that he lied, they won't fire him over it. I doubt we ever know what really happened because Urban will probably never comment on it again. So, I'm guessing he returns to his job and this continues to be a story. Eventually someone will uncover something that can no longer be hidden. I'd guess Urban doesn't coach in 2019, but I do think he gets by this initial investigation.
August 7th, 2018 at 12:26 PM ^
Agreed. They're not going to fire him unless new evidence comes out that forces their hand and gives them literally no other options. Like evidence showing that Urban was presented with what happened and consciously acted to cover it up and make sure it never saw the light of day. Or something where one of the wives or a staff member came to him asking to report Smith to the authorities, and Meyer actively influenced them away from doing so. Right now the only real situation is that he lied to the media. While it's a bad look, Meyer has no obligation towards the media whatsoever. If he'd lied to the NCAA about it, like Tressel had, there would be much more of a case to fire him.
I'm sure this two week period is at least partially in place to allow the media circus to die down. I do think he'll get some kind of suspension, possibly even for the TCU game. But you can mark my words: he will be back no later than week 5. Which happens to be at Penn State.
August 7th, 2018 at 10:16 AM ^
osu will sacrifice gene smith to save urb, i don't think that's even a close call. the 'investigation' is 90% how do we satisfy this matter without firing anyone and 10% did urban report what he knew when he found out about it. If he did, what happened or didn't happen next.
Wouldn't the head coach have control over his staff? did he report it or not? who fucking cares? if the incident was enough to fire him in '18 when it was made public, how was it not enough to fire the wife beater when it happened in '15? or back in '09?
urb is scum and shithole u will do everything they can to keep him.
Harbaugh is scum and shithole u will do everything they can to keep him
August 7th, 2018 at 10:20 AM ^
There is a very good chance that both Urban and Gene Smith (if you believe Urban) will lose there jobs.
What a fiasco the Urban rally was. Any buckeye fan with a fraction of humility and moral compass should be embarrassed.
August 7th, 2018 at 10:31 AM ^
Relax, chief. There were an estimated 100-200 OSU fans there last night out of an estimated fan base of over 3 million. That sliver of fan support does not represent the population. Since you seems to be an exemplar of virtues I wonder how you protested UM when Gibbons got his three year delayed punishment for rape and Lewan got off for threatening rape to the same victim?
August 7th, 2018 at 10:41 AM ^
Back so soon? Yesterday you said you were leaving us.......
August 7th, 2018 at 12:17 PM ^
I am looking forward to OSU deciding not to fire Meyer and hgb4529 coming back to mgoblog with quality posts like "Ha ha ha, I told you we would get to keep our lying, wife-beater-harboring coach. Go Bucks!"
You're confusing me with another poster, ace.
August 7th, 2018 at 10:46 AM ^
Well the issue was over, Gibbons was gone and Lewan was headed to the NFL by the time all of that came to light, so there was nothing for fans to protest.
But the blog you're currently visiting responded like this:
https://mgoblog.com/content/brendan-gibbons-expelled-untruths-rampant
Regardless, he didn't say that group represented all OSU fans. He said OSU fans should be embarrassed. You apparently are not. Or if you are, you're a pure hypocrite because you're singing the same tune in this thread.
In summary, most Michigan fans admitted that the Gibbons issue was handled poorly. You are doing the exact opposite. Hope this helps.
August 7th, 2018 at 11:42 AM ^
Had the Gibbons fiasco happened today, it might have had a different outcome now that "beyond a reasonable doubt" has replaced "preponderance of the evidence" as the benchmark to determine a student's fate.
I'm saying neither, because you know, well there are zero facts in this case just allegations. Maybe we should all wait until the investigation is completed to reach judgement. Due process exists for a reason. I know you soft, virtue signalling, web mob don't have the patience for that.
Guy, give it a rest. Here's the problem with your wait-and-see approach. Ready?
The problem is if the investigation reveals that Meyer knew and reported everything according to the letter of the law, which is your best-case scenario, he still tried to lie and cover it up at Big Ten media day and he still employed Smith and renewed his contract knowing that he's regularly beating on his wife. Best case scenario - Meyer is proven to be a disingenuous domestic violence-enabling piece of garbage.
(At this point you may be inclined to lean on the crutch that Courtney Smith is crazy and Zach was never convicted of a crime so there was no need to fire him, at which point I'll ask you to explain why Smith was fired last month without that same "due process" and then you'll go poop in a cooler, so let's just skip that part, okay?)
Or the investigation could reveal that Meyer knew all along but never reported anything in which case he violated Title IX responsibilities as well as lied in his statement from Friday and is once again a disingenuous domestic violence-enabling piece of garbage.
Or you can try to hang on to the flimsy limb that Meyer was in the dark this whole time (despite Urban already admitting he knew), in which case you'd be required to believe that a coach who lied to the media at B1G Media Day and then lied to the nation in his nonsensical statement about handling everything properly, is now telling the absolute truth that he never talks to his wife especially when she has damning information that could get his program in hot water.
So go ahead. Await your investigation. It doesn't matter what comes of it because even the best case scenario reveals Meyer as a liar and enabler of domestic violence. That's where the rest of the nation sits as you and the rest of Ohio scream at the top of your lungs to let the facts come out. There is no story that can undo what is already out there. Any recanting or revision of what has been said just retroactively creates more lies.
Meyer's situation and the reponse of the Buckeye faithful is so predictable it hurts. Go read Louisville fans' reaction to the Pitino trouble. Go read UNC fans' reaction to their school providing sham classes to ensure eligibility. You already know how PSU fans reacted to Sandusky. It's all the same. You're not unique. I seriously urge you to take a step back and take an honest look at what you're defending and why. And it's not an Ohio State thing. It's a college sports thing.
You're okay with some woman getting the shit kicked out of her on a regular basis as long as that football team of college kids wearing your favorite color scores more points than their opposition. Doesn't that seem... I dunno, wrong? And when this place calls you out on it, your only defense is to wait for some hand-picked dog-and-pony show in Columbus to complete an investigation that regardless of outcome won't solve the basic problem in this entire situation.
Good luck.
Why should the head coach be fired because his assistant is accused of DV? Please answer this
Where did I say the head coach should be fired? Please answer this.
August 7th, 2018 at 10:42 AM ^
It is bad enough that OSU hasn't bothered to talk to Courtney Smith as it is, but if we're sitting here in a week, with the imposed conclusion of this investigation days away and they still have not done so, would it be fair then to think that we can make an educated guess as to what this committee wishes to find in spite of everything? This and the imposed timeframe do not give me a good feeling that what should happen will indeed happen here.
August 7th, 2018 at 10:43 AM ^
Gene Smith gets canned. Urbz keeps his job. Jim Delaney keeps making sure OSU and MSU get favorable schedules, referees etc.
Lol get out of here pussy
Interesting choice of words, especially given this context.
August 7th, 2018 at 12:09 PM ^
Still maintaining my prediction that he gets a 3-4 game suspension and that's it. He'll be out for TCU but that's a game OSU can survive even if they lose.
He'll be back by the time the games really start to count.
August 7th, 2018 at 12:20 PM ^
i don't get this theory. either urban did something wrong (and gets fired) or he is proven to have followed protocol (and stays). i don't think there is an in between area of getting suspended a few games. but it's osu, i could be wrong.
August 7th, 2018 at 12:50 PM ^
Here's how it's going to happen:
Urban thought he properly reported/didn't need to report since Gene Smith was aware of the allegations and expected Gene Smith to report it to the Title IX office and whoever else is supposed to get a report. Since Urban thought he had fulfilled his obligations there was no intent to cover up the incident. Therefore, this is a learning experience for him, blah blah blah. Gene Smith gets fired if he didn't report it correctly, Meyer is punished by being suspended without pay for 4 games for not fulfilling the reporting obligations without intent to cover up.
This works for OSU on multiple fronts. They get to condemn DV, they get to fire Gene Smith who has been a failure as AD as multiple scandals have happened under his watch and lay most of the blame for Zach Smith on him instead of Meyer, they get to appear to disciple Meyer and still keep him.
I hope I'm wrong, but if I thought I was I wouldn't have typed out this long winded response.
This is just wrong on so many levels. Gene Smith is far from a failure. He is responsible for bringing in Urban and Holtmann. How is he a failure?
This comment perfectly sums up Ohio State.
Lol please explain Mr. Morality.
August 7th, 2018 at 12:49 PM ^
Nothing will happen.
I expect Urban Meyer will be suspended (with pay) for the first two games (Oregon State and Rutgers), and return just in time for the TCU game in Texas.
OSU and MSU are both sorry, lying sacks of shit.
If I'm UM, I'm negative recruiting the hell out of them because fuck those guys.
Quit being a cry baby.
Yo momma is so fat that when she fell no one laughed but the ground cracked up.
How mad are you gonna be when Urban keeps his job?