Urban Meyer on Monday fired the longest tenured member of his coaching staff at Ohio State, and he says the move came after he was made aware of a 2015 arrest he previously had no knowledge of.
Zach Smith, a wide receivers coach who came to Ohio State with Meyer from Florida, has been arrested multiple times for allegedly assaulting his ex-wife. The most recent was in 2015, and college football reporter Brett McMurphy learned on Monday that the case has not been resolved and remains open. Smith was arrested on Oct. 26, 2015 and charged with felony counts of domestic violence and felonious assault against his ex-wife, Courtney Smith. The police report from the incident states that Courtney suffered unspecified injuries and “she has been a victim of sustained physical abuse by (Zach Smith).”
On Friday, Smith had a protective order filed against him that prohibits him from coming within 500 feet of his ex-wife. The order was filed after Courtney says Zach violated a criminal trespass warning by dropping off the couple’s son at her home instead of a pre-arranged public meeting place. Smith was later fired, but Meyer said Tuesday that he was unaware of the 2015 incident
Urban Meyer told a few reporters this morning he was aware of Zach Smith’s arrest in 2009 at UF, but was not aware of 2015 incident at Ohio State I reported on Monday. Meyer will speak at B1G media days at 9:30 a.m. CT
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 24, 2018
Smith was also arrested in 2009 while he was a member of Meyer’s staff at Florida. McMurphy shared some information from the police report in that incident, and it stated that Smith brought a female co-worker home to his and Courtney’s house and that he became violent with his ex-wife. While the information McMurphy shared came directly from the police report, Meyer said “what was reported” was inaccurate.
Urban Meyer said “what was reported” about Zach Smith from the 2009 arrest at Florida was “not accurate.” All of that information I reported came directly from the police report
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 24, 2018
It’s hard to believe that Meyer was completely unaware of an open domestic violence case against a member of his staff who has a history of being accused of domestic violence. While Ohio State made the right move by firing Smith on Monday, many feel it should have come sooner.
