Former Ohio State assistant coach Zach Smith’s ex-wife claims she informed the wife of Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer in 2015 that her husband had abused her; Meyer claimed last week that he was unaware of the event.
Courtney Smith spoke with Stadium and sent texts to Brett McMurphy, a former ESPN writer, about her interactions with Shelley Meyer and the wives of the other Buckeyes coaches. Additionally, Courtney Smith allegedly received threatening texts from her ex-husband.
Courtney Smith reported to Stadium that Shelley had stated she would have to inform Urban. “That’s okay, you should tell Urban,” I remarked.
Ohio State did not respond to messages left on Wednesday.
Last week, Zach Smith lost his job after Courtney Smith was given a domestic violence protective order by an Ohio court.
Zach Smith was accused of misdemeanor criminal trespass in May. Zach Smith’s lawyer stated at the time of the allegation that Courtney Smith had accused him of driving to her apartment after she had informed him they would meet somewhere else so he could pick up their baby. Last month, Zach Smith entered a not guilty plea. Friday has been set aside for a hearing.
While Zach Smith worked as a graduate assistant for Meyer at Florida, he was charged in 2009 with aggravated assault on his pregnant wife. The case was dismissed due to insufficient proof. In 2012, Smith—the grandson of the late Buckeyes coach Earle Bruce—was recruited by Urban Meyer to Ohio State.
Zach Smith was accused of abuse in two police reports that were submitted in Powell County, Ohio, in 2015, following the Smiths’ June divorce. No charges were ever brought.
Meyer stated during Big Ten media days that he and Shelley Meyer had discussed the 2009 incident with the Smiths. Referring to the 2015 event that Courtney Smith claimed happened, Meyer stated:
Since I wasn’t present, I can’t claim it didn’t happen. Nothing ever came to light, and I was never informed about anything. I’ve never discussed it with anyone. I have no knowledge about it. That was the first I heard about it last night. No, and when I requested some of the staff members to phone and explain what had happened, they replied that they had no knowledge of the incident.
In 2016, the Smiths got divorced.
Meyer will receive $7.6 million for the 2018 season and a two-year contract extension from Ohio State that would keep him in Columbus until 2022. The agreement was made in April. With that salary, he is the highest paid public school football coach in the US as well as the highest paid state employee in Ohio.
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