Ohio State’s Gene Smith on report of friction between him and Urban Meyer: ‘It’s absolutely crazy’

According to a report from footballscoop.com, there was “friction” within the Ohio State program.

This report came out after Ohio State’s 49-20 loss to Purdue, which dropped the Buckeyes from No. 2 to No. 11 in the AP Poll. Could a big upset cause a bit of uneasiness?

Sure, maybe.

Well, after the report came out, FootballScoop tweeted that sources said that the situation was even worse than what was written in the report:

Another industry source text me this afternoon, “It’s worse than you wrote.”

On the #Friction at Ohio State https://t.co/QmhJD2bLNm

— FootballScoop (@FootballScoop) October 22, 2018

Could things really be this bad?

Of course Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith heard of the rumblings going on. Was it true? Were Smith and coach Urban Meyer at odds?

Here’s Meyer on Tuesday:

Urban Meyer said that of course there is urgency within the coaching staff to fix things, but refuted an internet report from last night that alleged there was "friction" between some of the coaches, or between him and A.D. Gene Smith.

— Tim May (@TIM_MAYsports) October 23, 2018

And here’s Smith on Wednesday:

I talked with Ohio State AD Gene Smith about his relationship with Urban Meyer, and the report of “friction” between them: “It’s absolutely crazy. We went through the same thing together. I don’t know where that’s coming from.” https://t.co/jZnFT3LRQh

— Bill Landis (@BillLandis25) October 24, 2018

If there are issues going on, the Buckeyes are certainly deflecting. Worst case scenario: Ohio State is hiding its issues well.

Kevin Cunningham

Kevin covers Big Ten football for Saturday Tradition.