COLUMBUS, Ohio – As the start of college football season approaches, the investigation into Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer's handling of a domestic violence situation involving an assistant coach has dominated headlines.
The full findings of an independent investigation were released late Wednesday night after the school announced a three-game suspension for Meyer. The national championship coach will miss the team's games against Oregon State, Rutgers and TCU before returning against Tulane.
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What was being investigated?
The investigation was conducted to determine if Meyer violated any OSU, Title IX, NCAA or Big Ten rules, or state or federal laws, in the hiring, retaining, supervising and firing of former wide receivers coach Zach Smith.
Smith was arrested on a charge of aggravated battery of a pregnant woman in June 2009 while working under Meyer at the University of Florida. Smith was then hired by Meyer at Ohio State and was investigated for additional domestic violence allegations in 2015.
Smith was fired last month when Meyer found out about a series of legal issues, including an alleged criminal trespassing charge. Smith is also accused of having sex toys delivered to him at the school's football offices, taking nude photos of himself during the team's visit to the White House and having sex with a university subordinate in the coaches offices.
Meyer's comments during Big Ten Media Days on July 24 about the 2015 allegations against Smith were also a topic of the investigation.
The role of Athletic Director Gene Smith in the scandal was the third issue being investigated.
More than 40 witnesses were interviewed throughout the investigation. More than 60,000 electronic documents and 10,000 pages of Meyer's text messages were reviewed.
For more information on the investigators and the scope of the investigation, see the full findings at the bottom of this page.
Findings from 2009 case
The investigation found that after a party at Meyer's' house, Smith, who had been drinking, brought a female coworker home to sleep on his couch. His then-wife, Courtney Smith, objected and took the coworker home.
When Courtney Smith got home, an argument broke out between the couple, and Zach Smith allegedly picked up his wife and threw her against the wall. Smith disputed that any violence occurred but was arrested by the Gainesville Police Department after his wife called 911, investigators found.
Meyer and his wife were aware of the 2009 arrest, according to the findings.
Courtney Smith decided not to pursue charges after speaking with her husband's mother and grandfather, Earle Bruce, a former Ohio State football coach and mentor to Meyer, the investigation found.
A special assistant to Meyer, Hiram deFries, also knew about the alleged incident and likely spoke with Courtney Smith about not pursuing charges, investigators said.
According to investigators, Meyer said shortly after the 2009 arrest, the Smiths met with him in his office at Florida to tell him Zach Smith's arrest has been based on incorrect information provided by Courtney Smith. Meyer said the couple told him Zach Smith had not been violent toward his wife.
Courtney Smith denies meeting with Meyer in 2009 or recanting her allegations, investigators said.
Zach Smith said he met with Meyer without his wife.
"We find it more likely that only Zach Smith met with Coach Meyer in 2009, and that Courtney Smith likely did not recant her allegations of abuse at that time to Urban or Shelley Meyer, although it is clear that Courtney Smith decided not to pursue charges and that none were ever filed," the investigation said. "Coach Meyer and Shelley Meyer took away from the 2009 events that Courtney Smith was not being entirely truthful when she called 911 to have Zach arrested."
Investigators said Ohio State ran a standard background check on Zach Smith before hiring him as an assistant coach to Meyer in December 2011. The background check didn't call for or return arrest information, so Zach Smith's 2009 arrest was unknown to others at the school when he was hired, according to the findings.
Meyer didn't inform others at Ohio State about the 2009 arrest, investigators said. He said he didn't inform OSU staffers because no charges were filed and because he believed Zach Smith hadn't been violent toward his wife.
Investigators discovered no evidence that Gene Smith knew about the 2009 arrest until July 23, 2018.
Zach Smith's trend of misbehavior at Ohio State
Investigators found no evidence of domestic violence arrests or charges against Zach Smith from 2010 to the present, but there were several other incidents uncovered throughout his tenure at Ohio State.
In 2013, Zach Smith was arrested for driving while impaired, but there's no evidence that Meyer, Gene Smith or anyone at Ohio State was aware of the charge, investigators said.
Investigators said Zach Smith ran up a significant bill at a Florida strip club with another Ohio State football coach and high school coaches during a May 2014 recruiting trip.
According to an iPhone screenshot, Zach Smith spent around $600 of his personal money at a Miami strip club on May 8, 2014.
Investigators said OSU director of football operations Brian Voltolini was aware of the strip club visit.
According to the investigation, Meyer was aware of the incident and reprimanded Zach Smith, warning him that he would be fired if it happened again. He added a "morality clause" to the 2014 coaches' manual but did not report the incident to athletic compliance, the investigation found.
Zach Smith's credit cards were declined on three to five occasions during recruiting trips, and staff members said he was delinquent in paying for his iPhones and bowl game costs, according to the investigation.
In 2015 and 2016, Zach Smith was engaged in a sexual relationship with a secretary on the football staff who did not report to him, according to the findings.
Zach Smith also took sexually explicit photos of himself in the Ohio State football facilities and at other locations, including at the White House during the team's visit in April 2015, investigators said.
The investigation found Zach Smith also had sex toys delivered to him at the Ohio State athletic facilities. Certain members of the football staff were aware of issue, but not Meyer or Gene Smith, investigators said.
In 2016, based on direction from Meyer, Zach Smith was admitted to a drug treatment facility for addiction to a stimulant prescription drug used to treat ADHD, investigators said. Gene Smith was unaware of the incident.
Zach Smith was given a trespass warning Dec. 19, 2017, by Powell police when he allegedly entered Courtney Smith's property while drunk on Dec. 17, 2017, police said. Investigators said Meyer and Gene Smith weren't aware of the warning.
On May 12, Zach Smith was charged with criminal trespassing after he went to Courtney Smith's home, police said. Meyer and Gene Smith learned fo the incident July 20 after it was referenced on social media, investigators said. Zach Smith is contesting the charge.
A domestic violence civil protection order was issued against Zach Smith on July 20 based on Courtney Smith's claims that he posed an immediate danger to her. Zach Smith is contesting the protection order.
2015 domestic violence investigation
The Powell Police Department and the Delaware County prosecutor investigated Zach Smith from October 2015 through 2016 for possible domestic violence and cyber offenses against Courtney Smith, the investigation found.
The Ohio State Athletic Department's Title IX coordinator learned about the domestic violence investigation from police and told Gene Smith, who told Meyer during a football practice that Zach Smith could be arrested at any time, investigators said.
Gene Smith said Meyer had "an immediate and strong negative reaction to the news."
Zach Smith was told to return from a recruiting trip to meet with Meyer, Gene Smith and others about the ongoing investigation. Zach Smith denied any domestic violence, investigators said.
"If you hit her, you are fired," Meyer told Zach Smith, according to the investigation.
Investigators said Meyer helped arrange professional counseling for Zach Smith and monitored the investigation, along with Gene Smith.
Courtney Smith shared her allegations of abuse with Meyer's wife in late fall of 2015 through texts and phone calls, according to the investigation. She told Shelley Meyer she was afraid of Zach Smith, and Shelley Meyer told her she should call 911 if she was afraid.
"I've realized that no matter what he will say anything to hide the truth," Courtney Smith texted to Shelley Meyer.
"I am praying for you!!! I wouldn't listen to him anyway. He doesn't talk to anyone about you. I know the truth. Please take care of yourself and let me know what I could help," Shelley Meyer texted to Courtney Smith.
Shelley Meyer said she didn't relay Courtney Smith's allegations of abuse to Urban Meyer because she had doubts that they were true. Urban Meyer said he doesn't remember having a conversation with his wife about the alleged abuse.
"Given the closeness of their relationship and Shelley's concerns, we believe it is likely that Shelley and Urban Meyer had at least some communication about these allegations in late 2015 and were concerned about them, although both had doubts about the credibility of Courtney's claims," the investigation found.
Investigators said during and after his divorce in 2015 and 2016, Zach Smith was regularly late to practice and workouts. He failed, at times, to appear at scheduled recruiting visits despite reporting that he had showed up, according to investigators.
Zach Smith said Meyer warned him that he would be fired if the issues continued. Gene Smith suggested Meyer replace Zach Smith, but Meyer decided not to do so, investigators found.
Meyer fires Zach Smith
When Meyer and Gene Smith learned about the domestic violence civil protection order on July 23, Zach Smith was fired.
Meyer said his primary reason for firing Zach Smith was that he had failed to bring both the order of protection and the criminal trespassing matters to his attention, according to the findings.
"Meyer considered these failures to be violations of the core value of honesty," investigators said. "In addition, Coach Meyer considered the domestic violence civil protection order to be the first actual evidence that Zach Smith had engaged in domestic violence, even though Zach Smith continues to deny it and is contesting the order."
Meyer's preparation for Big Ten Media Days
At 7:08 p.m. July 23, Meyer sent a message to staff members that said Zach Smith was fired due to "core value violation and cumulative issues."
"'Win the moment,'" Meyer said in the message. "Most important thing is team and players at this time. Zero conversation about Zach's past issues. We need to help him as he moves (forward). Team and players!!"
"I am worried about Zach's response," Shelley Meyer texted to her husband at 7:35 p.m. "He drinks a lot and I am just not sure how stable he will be. Afraid he will do something dangerous. It's obvious he has anger/rage issues already."
Meyer did not respond to his wife's message, according to the investigation.
During the evening of July 23, Meyer received media reports about Zach Smith's 2009 arrest and a "felony arrest" in 2015, investigators said.
"I know nothing about this," Meyer said in a message to Gene Smith and other OSU staff members. "Is there a way to find out exactly what his issues were. I know about 2009 (it was dropped) and last week. That's it. Need some guidance here so when I speak to media I'm not wrong."
Later that evening, director of player development Ryan Stamper reported to Meyer that there was no record of Zach Smith being arrested in 2015.
"Stamp just confirmed there was no arrest in 2015," Meyer said in a message.
"I would be careful," Gene Smith said in a message. "Do not get too detailed."
Gene Smith advised Meyer that whatever he said at Big Ten Media Days should be said in his opening statement with no questions answered afterward. He recommended Meyer say, "As you are aware through our release, we have made a change in our wide receivers coaching position. As Zach dealt with his personal challenge, I was aware of two legal instances in 2009 and 2015. This most recent issue is inconsistent with our values," according to the investigation.
"Thx," Meyer responded, investigators said.
Athletic communications director Jerry Emig messaged that "(Those) are good points," investigators said. Emig recommended Meyer say, "There were no charges in 2015 and I really don't even recall any details," the findings say.
Meyer texted his agent the morning of July 24, saying it was the "right thing to do" to fire Zach Smith. Meyer said the firing was due to "cumulative stuff" and said, "I will not tell the media," according to investigators.
"For sure it was teh totality of his choices," the agent responded. "(It was) only a matter of time before he did something that did substantial harm to you or the program."
Meyer's comments during Big Ten Media Days
A reporter asked Meyer on July 24 at Big Ten Media days, "The 2015 reported incident, are you saying that you don't know anything about that or do you believe that that didn't happen?"
"I can't say that didn't happen because I wasn't there," Meyer responded. "I was never told about anything, never anything came to light. I've never had a conversation about it, so I know nothing about that. First I heard about that was last night. When I asked some people back at the office to call and see what happened and they came back and said they know nothing about it."
Meyer said the 2015 events weren't a factor in his decision to fire Zach Smith, according to investigators.
"(In) 2015 -- I got a text late last night something happened in 2015, and there was nothing," Meyer said later in the press conference. "Once again, there's nothing. Once again, I don't know who creates a story like that."
Did Meyer delete text messages from cellphone?
Gene Smith and Voltolini were surprised by Meyer's comments at Big Ten Media Days and informed him afterward that he had been aware of the 2015 law enforcement investigation, the findings say.
"Meyer says that he was reminded, to a limited extent, of the 2015 events only in these conversations and maintains that, until that point, he had no recollection whatsoever of the 2015 domestic violence investigation of Zach Smith," the investigation found.
Other members of the group text on July 23 said they believe Meyer's statements at Big Ten Media Days were the product of "his confusion and fixation on the information he received the night before that the reports of a felony arrest in 2015 were inaccurate."
On Aug. 1, college football reporter Brett McMurphy reported on his Facebook page that Urban and Shelley Meyer had been aware of Courtney Smith's abuse allegations in 2015. McMurphy's reoprt included two incident reports from Powell police and text messages between Courtney Smith and Shelley Meyer.
Voltolini was on the practice field with Meyer when the article came out at 10:17 a.m. and told him there was "a bad article."
Voltolini and Meyer discussed whether the media could get access to Meyer's cellphone and how to adjust the settings on the phone so that text messages older than one year would be deleted, according to the investigation.
Investigators found no messages older than one year on Meyer's phone, indicating that at the time it was obtained by Ohio state on Aug. 2, Meyer's phone was set to retain texts for only that period. Investigators said they can't determine if Meyer's phone was set to retain messages for only one year in response to the Aug. 1 report.
"It is nonetheless concerning that his first reaction to a negative media piece exposing his knowledge of the 2015-2016 law enforcement investigation was to worry about the media getting access to information and discussing how to delete messages older than a year," the findings say.
Ohio State fails to promptly respond to paper's records request
Investigators said the lack of clarity was compounded by Ohio State's failure to respond promptly to two July 25 records requests from the school paper, "The Lantern." The paper asked for records between Meyer and both Zach Smith and Gene Smith.
On July 25, senior associate general counsel Julie Vannatta emailed Gene Smith and senior associate athletics director Diana Sabau, instructing them to retrieve responsive emails and texts from Meyer's phone, investigators said.
On July 26, Vannatta asked director of internal operations for football Amy Nicol and Voltolini to "go get (Meyer's) phone and check his texts with Zach."
"Although all of these individuals were aware of the requests -- and indeed both AD Smith and Sabau responded that they had no documents on their end -- no one appears to have actually checked Coach Meyer's phone or even approached him about the requests," investigators said. "Had Coach Meyer's phone been examined and processed promptly at that time, we would know definitively that the Aug. 1 article's revelations had no impact on the evidence we received for July 23 and dates in 2015."
Investigators said they did not find evidence that Meyer knew about the records request before the investigation.
Meyer placed on administrative leave
Meyer was placed on administrative leave Aug. 1, and an investigation was announced. Gene Smith said he and Meyer didn't recall the events of 2015 when they were speaking to university leaders, but that he had recalled the events when the media report came out.
"My heart is heavy today as I witness the toll that the events of thepast week have taken on the Buckeye family and the university community that I love so dearly," Meyer said in a message posted Aug. 3.
Meyer said he has always followed proper reporting protocols and procedures and did so regarding the Zach Smith incident in 2015.
Meyer admitted he hadn't been accurate in response to some of the questions at Big Ten Media Days. He said his "intention was not to say something inaccurate or misleading" and claimed he was "not adequately prepared to discuss these sensitive personnel issues with the media."
In interviews with the investigative team, Meyer consistently said he had no memory of the 2015 events when he stepped on the podium at Big Ten Media Days, the findings say. Meyer said he was not adequately prepared by his staff to handle the questions about the 2015 incident, investigators aid.
Meyer claims his sole focus was on the accusation of a felony arrest in 2015, which had never happened. He said he thought all of the reporters' questions on the incident were specifically about an arrest that he knew had never occurred.
Possible violations by Meyer and Gene Smith
Investigators said Meyer didn't commit a violation by not disclosing Zach Smith's 2009 arrest when he was hired at Ohio State, but it would have been better had he informed OSU staff about the incident.
According to the investigation, Meyer and Gene Smith didn't have reporting obligations during 2015-2016 events because neither believed there had been a violation of the law and because there was no charge or arrest. Since Meyer was informed of the police investigation by Gene Smith, he believed he had no further reporting obligations, investigators said.
"In assessing their reporting obligations, both Coach Meyer and AD Smith placed heavy reliance on the absence of formal law enforcement or court action," investigators found. "Neither made any report of the matter to Athletic Compliance or University Compliance for consideration of whether an internal investigation should be conducted."
Investigators said that while they found that Meyer and Gene Smith believed in good faith that they did not have sufficient information to trigger any reporting obligation, they believe both viewed the issue too narrowly through the lens of law enforcement action.
"Both should have made some report of Zach Smith's potential violation of the domestic violence laws, which was the subject of the law enforcement investigation they came to know about in late October 2015," investigators said.
The investigation did not discover evidence of a Title IX violation.
Meyer's obligations regarding honesty and ethics
Meyer's contract requires him to "represent Ohio State positively in public and private forums" and refrain from "conduct that reflects adversely on Ohio State or its athletic programs."
Investigators said they "cannot logically square" Meyer's actions on Big Ten Media Days. He had extensive knowledge of the 2015 events, and the group text message from the night before Big Ten Media Days suggests Gene Smith told Meyer to acknowledge the events of both 2009 and 2015 without giving details, investigators said.
Investigators said Meyer was "deeply absorbed" in football season and had Zach Smith's firing on his mind when he made the comments on Big Ten Media Days. They also said he has sometimes had "significant memory issues in other situations where he had prior extensive knowledge of events."
Meyer had periodically taken medicine that can negatively impair his memory, concentration and focus, investigators said.
When Meyer and Gene Smith told university officials about Zach Smith's firing, Meyer conveyed his regret in firing Earle Bruce's grandson, not Zach Smith's conduct, investigators found.
"Meyer's cherished relationship with Earle Bruce may also have diminished his ability to clearly process and assess the severity of Zach's problems or to appropriately discipline him, despite numerous red flags raised by Zach's behavior over the years," investigators said.
Investigators said Meyer made misstatements -- whether deliberately or not -- about his knowledge of the 2015 events despite being told by other OSU staffers that he should acknowledge some awareness. He didn't apologize until after a social media report exposed his prior knowledge and he had been placed on administrative leave, investigators said.
"We are also troubled by Coach Meyer’s interest following the publication of the negative social media report about how to change the message history setting on his phone," the findings say. "While we do not know if messages older than a year had been on Coach Meyer’s phone before August 1st or
whether Coach Meyer deleted any messages, we do know that he at least thought about and discussed it with Brian Voltolini in response to learning of the negative article. Often, although not always, such reactions evidence consciousness of guilt."
Investigators said that "it is a close question" whether Meyer was intentionally misleading during Big Ten Media Days, he did not deliberately lie, in their view.
Investigation observations
Investigators said they were impressed by Meyer's "sincere commitment" to the respect for women core value that he tries to instill in his players. They said Gene Smith shares that commitment.
"While we do not doubt that Coach Meyer respects women and is dedicated to fostering an environment of respect for women in his program, his apparent blind spot for Zach Smith seems to have impaired his judgment and his management of the behavior of at least one of his assistants," investigators said.
Investigators said many Ohio State staffers saw an arrest or formal charge as necessary to trigger reporting obligations and investigations, even though that is not the case.
"We have worked hard in a short period of time to investigate this matter and have arrived at our findings independently," investigators said in conclusion. "While we know that not everyone will agree with our conclusions, we hope that our work will shed some light and be of some benefit to those who are charged with the weighty responsibility of making the important decisions that will follow this report. We especially want to thank the special, independent Board working group for its invaluable guidance and expertise, as well as the entire OSU community for its cooperation in the Independent Investigation and for its commitment to the integrity and independence of this process."
You can read the full 23-page report below.