If Ohio State decides to stand behind Urban Meyer following their investigation, this detail might be the deciding factor.
Brett McMurphy, the reporter who has been at the forefront in reporting the story that has led to Ohio State’s investigation, joined his former employer, ESPN, for an interview on Wednesday night where he talked about his reporting.
“I got documents, texts, emails, photos, and basically it showed the wives of the entire coaching staff knew what had been going on. In these text message conversations it showed that Urban Meyer knew about this,” McMurphy told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt.
Van Pelt then pressed McMurphy about his claim that the text messages show Meyer knew about the 2015 domestic assault allegations his former wide receivers coach Zach Smith was facing, a charge which the Buckeyes coach denied last week. McMurphy then acknowledged he did not have any direct evidence and that his assertions were based on what he believed the coach was likely to have known.
Thanks to @notthefakeSVP for keeping me on this time. Last time I taped a segment, I got bumped from show https://t.co/qYwo517F4O
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) August 2, 2018
“I do not have any direct evidence — any text messages from Urban Meyer that says he knew about it,” McMurphy said in response to Van Pelt. “But I have mounds of evidence that indicate that Urban Meyer would have known about this basically because of his relationship with his wife Shelley. (Meyer talked at media day) about how close they are, they share everything, he relies on her for everything, they’ve been married for 29 years … I find it hard to believe that the same couple they counseled in 2009 — she has evidence, they completely ignore it, and Urban has no knowledge?”
And that is exactly where the questions come up.
McMurphy asserted in the opening paragraph of his investigative report that Meyer “knew in 2015 of domestic abuse allegations against a member of his coaching staff.” McMurphy’s report asserts that Meyer lied to the media about what he knew.
But McMurphy does not have direct proof of those accusations.
The biggest proof he provided that condemns Meyer is a quote from Zach Smith’s ex-wife Courtney, who says that she confided in Shelley Meyer multiple times about what Zach was doing to her. The quote from Courtney is that Shelley said she would talk to Urban, along with Courtney’s belief that Shelley did everything she could.
“Shelley said she was going to have to tell Urban,” Courtney said. “I said: ‘That’s fine, you should tell Urban.’ I know Shelley did everything she could.”
The other proof provided came in the form of an alleged text message conversation between Lindsey Voltolini, the wife of loyal Urban Meyer staff member, and Smith. Their conversation made it seem clear that Meyer and Zach Smith had talked about the allegations.
Here’s the conversation, as reported by McMurphy:
Courtney: “(Zach’s) trying to make me look crazy bc that’s what Shelley is saying (he’s doing)”
Lindsey: “He (Urban) just said he (Zach) denied everything”
Courtney: “I hope urban is smarter than that”
Lindsey: “He (Urban) doesn’t know what to think”
Courtney: “I don’t really care. Ya know”
Lindsey: “Yeah, don’t worry about urb”
If Ohio State does not do any more digging in its investigation and bases things solely on the reporting of McMurphy, they could have an argument for keeping the coach.
They could choose to back Meyer and fall back on the argument that McMurphy does not have direct proof that Meyer lied. Based on McMurphy’s evidence, if the standard of our criminal justice system were used, Meyer would be found not guilty because this falls short of surpassing the burden of reasonable doubt.
Ohio State could also decide that Meyer is likely guilty because he knew about the 2009 arrest at Florida, because he is very close with his wife and admits talking to her about things, because Courtney believed that Shelley had talked with her husband about it, and because the wives of the coaches thought it was an issue that had been discussed. They may decide that is enough to terminate him.
Ohio State could otherwise do more digging and perhaps uncover information that proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Meyer was lying, which would lead to his firing.
For now, Meyer has been placed on paid administrative leave as Ohio State investigates the matter. It’s now up to Ohio State to decide what message they want to send.
