Only Suspending Urban Meyer for Three Games shows Ohio State has Lost its Moral Compass

PHILADELPHIA — The Ohio State University is too big to fail.

The Big Ten’s biggest football brand lost its soul and any moral high ground when it suspended coach Urban Meyer for the first three games of the season and AD Gene Smith for almost three weeks in the wake of an investigation that found Meyer likely knew about assistant Zach Smith’s physical abuse of his ex-wife Courtney in 2015 when police began investigating Smith, but both he and Smith failed to report it to compliance. Meyer compounded the problem when he misrepresented what he knew during Ohio State’s media day even though Courtney Smith and Meyer’s wife exchanged e-mails.

Police began investigating Smith in 2015, but Meyer, who knew Smith had been previously arrested but never charged in 2009 for aggravated battery while working for Meyer at Florida, kept him on staff until Brett McMurphy of Stadium initially reported detailed allegations. Meyer eventually fired Smith July 23 after learning that Smith failed to tell him about a criminal trespassing charge that occurred in May and a restraining order issued by an Ohio judge last month.

But there is a stench about this whole episode.

Meyer is the highest paid employee of the school, making $7.6 million a year. He has a 73-8 record at Ohio State and has coached the Buckeyes to a national championship in 2014. When you win big like this in a Power 5 conference, you become Teflon. Meyer escaped with a wrist slap from the Board of Trustees, leading to a belief by some that winning college football games at Ohio State trumps character.

Meyer may be bigger than life in Columbus, but he will be viewed as a diminished character in a tarnished program by the rest of the country. The sad part of this is if Meyer makes another run at the College Football Playoffs, most of Ohio State’s die-hard fans will forget soon and be quick to jump on the bandwagon.

Meyer said his allegiance to former coach Earle Bruce, Zach Smith’s grandfather, clouded his judgment and caused him to miss red flags about his former assistant’s behavior. He never told his AD about Smith’s background when Meyer hired him.

“I followed my heart and not my head,’’ Meyer claimed. “I gave Zach Smith the benefit of the doubt.’’

Smith deserves only so many chances. Documents and receipts Stadium obtained show he ordered more than $2,200 in sex toys, male apparel and photography equipment and had the items delivered to him at Ohio State’s Woody Hayes Athletic Center in 2015. Courtney Smith said her ex-husband took pictures of his penis inside the coaches’ offices and the White House when the Buckeyes visited in 2015 and photographed himself in the coaches’ offices receiving oral sex and having sex with an OSU staffer.

Brad Koffel, Smith’s attorney, said he had no idea about any of this, threatening to sue McMurphy if his organization published any of the pictures.

Meyer initially said he was previously unaware of any domestic issues that occurred during the time Smith was on staff. He backtracked shortly after being placed on paid leave Aug. 1 when the university conducted an in house investigation, saying instead that he misspoke when first answering questions about Smith that he followed proper protocol in reporting the incident in 2015.

But there is this disturbing fact. According to the findings of a 23-page report by investigators, when McMurphy’s story broke, Associate AD Brian Voltolini and Meyer discussed at that time whether the media could get access to coach Meyer’s phone, and especially how to adjust the settings on Meyer’s phone so text messages older than one year would be deleted. When Meyer turned his phone over to the investigative team, it had no text messages that were older than one year.

Lead investigator Mary Jo White said her investigative team has a sincere commitment to respecting women. But he didn’t help his image with his performance at the press conference, apologizing to Buckeye nation but never mentioning the victim by name. He blew a chance to redeem himself and show his core value of “TREAT WOMEN WITH RESPECT” was more than a catchphrase on the wall of the locker room.

Instead he offered this: “Well, I have a message for everyone involved in this: I’m sorry that we’re in this situation. I’m just sorry we’re in this situation,’’ Meyer said.

Smith never mentioned her name, either.

So, I will. Her name is Courtney Smith.