Fired Ohio State assistant says Urban Meyer firing would be ‘flat wrong’

Fired Ohio State assistant coach Zach Smith believes it would be “flat wrong” for Urban Meyer to lose his job over his handling of abuse allegations against Smith.

In an interview with ESPN’s Sportscenter on Friday, Smith again denied allegations made by his ex-wife of abuse, and added that Meyer had threatened to fire him in 2015 if it came to light that he had, in fact, hit his wife.

Zach Smith, in an interview with @SportsCenter, says Urban Meyer told him in 2015: "I swear to God, Zach, if I found out you hit her, you're done."

— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) August 3, 2018

Smith was allowed to stay on staff after this, but he was ultimately fired on July 23 after his history of allegations was brought to light publicly. It has since become a question of what Meyer knew about the allegations, when he knew it, and how he reacted to it. After initially denying any knowledge of his 2015 arrest, Meyer, who is now under investigation by the school, backtracked on Friday.

Smith believes it would be wrong for Meyer to lose his job over this.

Zach Smith said he'd be "heartbroken" if Urban Meyer loses his job. "If he loses his job, it would be flat wrong…. And that is the guy who fired me."

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) August 3, 2018

Ultimately, the entire athletic department now has questions to answer. If athletic director Gene Smith knew and investigated and allowed Zach Smith to stay on staff, why? What did Meyer know about that investigation? Did he actively cover for Smith, or was he simply woefully unaware of what was happening in his program? These are key questions that we don’t yet have answers for.