Willyville Guy

I’m not really a fan of Smith so if this is a step toward replacing him then I’m fine with it.

Gene Smith also suspended without pay during the same time period.

This guy clearly doesn’t care about facts.

He may end up getting sued for slander or libel by the time this is over.

Heh - Friday news dump. Just like the pros in politics.

Apparently the big announcement was on the football side. I wish the last line said Welcome Back Urban!

It’s Demario’s time.

I’m told there may be an official announcement this afternoon. Fingers crossed.

Seems like you got burned pretty bad. Sorry, man. As for Courtney Smith, there is a lot of information out there already and new facts break every day. So at this point I'm going to continue to watch this drama unfold and withhold judgment in the meantime. I will say though that the more complicated this gets, the less clear it becomes what Urban Meyer was supposed to do about any of it.

EDIT: I’m removing this report containing quotes from Courtney Smith’s mother in order to avoid raising the temp on a sensitive issue. Man, this situation is a mess.

I'm pumped! Gameday made the right call to go to an early-season rivalry game in South Bend.

Yes please.

One thing that jumps out to me about the independent working group and the investigative team is that they are full of former federal prosecutors. I would expect that a team like this will follow the evidence and make objective conclusions no matter the ramifications. I'm not sure how they know that the investigation will take 14 days, however, unless almost all of the documents have been gathered and reviewed and all they need to do is interview witnesses.

I sense the finger pointing is about to turn to Gene Smith. What a mess.

Not to make light of the ugly parts of this situation, but I have a dream that UFM walks into camp, gives this speech, and the team wins all its games 100-0.

Now I definitely expect fewer QB runs in 2018.

If the old man wants to come home for a few years to finish his career at Ohio State, I’d consider it ?

Agree. There are nine police reports. Courtney moved out in June 2015, sought a restraining order in October 2015, and filed for divorce in November 2015. Seems like that activity combined with Courtney saying that she told “all the coaches’ wives” about the abuse should have put people on notice. None of the texts in the public record show that Urban was copied, and McMurphy said on SVP last night that he has no direct evidence of Urban’s knowledge. I don’t know if that’s correct. Kyle Lamb from Rivals said that the OSU sexual misconduct policy incorporated into Urban’s contract only applies to on-campus, university-sponsored events - not any incident of sexual misconduct anywhere in the world - and none of the alleged incidents occurred in that context. Also, another report says that the duty to report violations of the sexual misconduct policy had not yet been added to the contract back in 2015. So it’s unclear to me whether there has been a violation of school policy or the contract.

This is well written and pretty much in line with my views. Dan Wetzel, on the other hand, is doing a poor job covering this story. He appeared to be unaware of the Earl Bruce connection yesterday, and today he's harping on Title IX and the OSU sexual misconduct policy even though everyone who has dug into those documents agrees they are inapplicable. The more I think about promoting Day over Schiano or Wilson, the more it makes sense and indicates that Ohio State is taking a long view of a future without Urban.

Are there any examples of a head coach going on administrative leave pending an independent investigation and then coming back? I can’t think of any. It’s over IMO.

Same. Even though I’m not aware of any facts that show Schiano or Wilson actually did anything wrong, their pasts are murky so it makes sense to look elsewhere under the circumstances. Yes and no. Zach Smith should not have been on the staff. Urban let him stick around for too long in an act of favoritism and got burnt as a result. Seems pretty black and white to me and I have no interest in a drawn out investigation into who’s wife said what and when.

That’s probably right, or Coach D. It would be pretty funny if OSU brings in Rich Rod and he stomps all over TTUN.

I feel like we just discussed him a few months ago and decided that he's not close to ready. Plus, there are two guys on staff ready to go!

Ryan Day?!? People really love this guy.