Apparently Bob Evans restaurants just started a partnership with Urban days ago, and that has been canceled as this scandal progresses.
Tom Herman just took a job at Texas last year.
What are the chances?
Wouldn’t OSU have to buy his contract?
I agree that Meyer’s time is probably nearly over, but I’m totally uncomfortable with this entire thing.
Both Paterno and Pitino had issues in the building…i.e. problems that are truly part of the program in one way or another. They are responsible for “institutional control” in situations like these. Pitino’s had a direct impact on recruiting. Paterno’s happened on school grounds and there’s a very strong argument that the willful ignorance facilitated future abuses.
Meyer’s really has absolutely nothing to do with football. There’s really no argument that Meyer’s choices here facilitated the ongoing abuse except in the most oblique way. They weren’t happening on school grounds and they didn’t impact players. Smith is a shit bag, but Meyer simply isn’t benefiting or complicit in any way.
I’ve heard mention that University staff, like Meyer, are required to report incidents like these, which would change the math, but I don’t know that this is true or that it applies here at all. This isn’t abuse of a child or a student.
Domestic Abuse is obviously never okay…but I don’t know that we want to live in a world where employers are the judge, jury and executioner based on simple allegations. I also don’t want to live in a world where anything that happens in the privacy of my home can be used against me by my employer. This is a private legal matter…not a workplace issue. I know sports and most other “public” enterprises fall back on the argument for “protecting the reputation” and err on the side of caution by being close to zero tolerance on this stuff, but they also act without any due process. That’s just not okay in my book. Now that that zero tolerance applies to the offenders entire chain of command it gets amplified.
If we argue that Meyer deserves to be fired for employing and not immediately firing a domestic abuser, doesn’t that same argument apply to everyone else above Meyer in the school’s hierarchy? If Smith’s wife told other friends who also kept the secret, should they all be fired from their jobs for not taking some action?
Urban has tweeted indicating he did know about the 2015 incident, and he did properly report it. If true, even more confusing why he’d lie about it on media day. If you did the right thing, or if you even think you did the right thing, that’s what you say.
Urban Meyer from the above link: “I deeply regret if I have failed in my words.”
What a fabulous euphemism for “I’m sorry I lied.”
As for mandated reporting of sexual abuse charges under federal Title IX, there’s some uncertainty about reporting requirements, however:
"An Ohio attorney told Yahoo Sports that Title IX would apply to Meyer’s case. “You have to report all violations of sexual misconduct, even those regarding third parties.”
*Sports Illustrated legal writer Michael McCann wrote that Title IX likely does apply to Meyer."
His explanation for saying something he now claims isn’t true:
“My intention was not to say anything inaccurate or misleading. However, I was not adequately prepared to discuss these sensitive personnel issues with the media, and I apologize for the way I handled those questions.”
So he apparently got caught flat-footed and just denied knowledge of it. He’s apologizing but whatever his “intentions” were he lied. Why his first instinct was to lie about it, that’s another question. Assuming he’s not still lying.
Well said, and I agree. This should be between the guy, his wife, her lawyer and the cops.
Correction to above post - “spousal abuse”.
Having not dug into the sordid details, is Smith accused of sexually assaulting his wife or of simple physical assault? Seems an important distinction based on the Title IX stuff.
The language used is “intimate partner violence”, though I’m not sure if that includes all domestic abuse or just abuse that is sexual in nature.
Also the rule normally only applies to conduct that occurs on campus, but if that conduct can somehow turn the campus into a “hostile work environment” it might apply.
I’m trying to picture how that would work. I guess if a coach beats his wife, and players know, and they have to be coached by this guy and the head coach knew too but did nothing, that might be a violation. Just speculating here.
If Meyer’s telling the truth and he reported it at the time but nobody took action he might be in the clear anyway. I assume that report is on file somewhere if it happened.
I don’t think this is a Title IX thing; I’m getting the sense that the Meyers not doing anything about the abuse violates OSU policy, since Shelley Meyer is also an OSU employee and knew about it.
I think you’re oversimplifying this.
You have no obligation to tell the press anything. Omitting or lying to the press is just that…lying to the press. The press is not a judge and the press has no reasonable expectation to believe anyone owes them information or the truth.
In this case, Meyer may have been instructed to not share anything with the press by the university until an investigation was complete. Similarly, law enforcement could make a similar request if he were expected to be a witness or if they had an open investigation they didn’t want to conduct in the full view of the public and the subsequent media shit-show. Who knows.
If he fulfilled his obligation to report, I can’t see how anything he did here is wrong. MAYBE the lying to the press (or being caught lying to the press) is a big enough stain on the university for them to want to fire him and claim the moral high ground, but I think that’s pretty thin.
Perhaps I’m out of step these days, but I believe that criminal accusations should be protected under the same types of rules as medical issues under HIPAA regulations until conviction at least. It’s unhealthy for society for criminal accusations alone to be a scarlet letter, and even making ex-cons carry that after they’ve served their term is doubly counterproductive. The mob justice that’s empowered by social media is dangerously unhealthy. It could happen to you.
guy who broke the story talked to ADs and similar people and got a split response. Some think he will keep his job , others say he’s a goner.
My guess is that it would take a lot to take down Urban Meyer. He’s among the elite coaches, and it’s not like it was Urban Meyer himself who committed the offense. He denied it, may have lied about it. If Urban Meyer were turning in 7-6 and 8-5 seasons and losing to Michigan, he’d be toast. But he’s consistently competing for national championships and that’s what matters.
The policy for OSU is here (PDF warning):
It clearly includes domestic violence. It further says:
“This policy may also apply to alleged sexual misconduct that occurs off-campus, including virtual spaces, when the Title IX coordinator or deputy coordinator determines that the alleged sexual misconduct could reasonably create a hostile environment.”
It later says of reporting obligations, that:
“In addition to the requirement of reporting incidents of sexual assault, the following members of the university community have an additional obligation to report all other incidents of sexual misconduct, when they receive a disclosure of sexual misconduct or become aware of information that would lead a reasonable person to believe that sexual misconduct may have occurred involving anyone covered under this policy. These individuals must report the incident within five work days of becoming aware of such information:
- Any human resource professional (HRP);
- Anyone who supervises faculty, staff, students, or volunteers;
- Chair/director; and
- Faculty member.”
Domestic violence is considered a form of sexual misconduct under this policy.
So if Meyer knew, it’s determined by the Title IX Coordinator (whoever that is) that a hostile work environment was created, and Meyer did not promptly report it (within 5 working days) then he’s in violation of the policy.
I think a lot will depend on whether he did report as he said, and the timing of that report.
…then someone else at The O.S.U. is toast. 
they might suspend him for a few games. That way he misses the games vs. teams like Eastern Montana Tech where the score is 70-3 and the 3rd string is playing early in the 2nd half. That will teach him a lesson!
I agree it’s much more likely a coach going 7-5 gets canned. For example Bobby Knight was fired during a down time for his team , not when he was at the top of the conference.
Okay; thanks. That’s about how I though it was (an OSU policy) but a little research on my part tells me that the policy is prolly only in place because of Title IX rulings regarding sexual harassment and violence.
Thanks for that.
For me, this simplifies things a lot. If Meyer reported it, I see no reason for further punishment based on him lying publicly. However, if they can prove that Meyer somehow knew about issues that were not already public before hiring Smith and did not share that with the university…he may deserve some harsh punishment up to and including dismissal. Will be interesting to watch.