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Ex-Ohio State assistant Zach Smith launches podcast episode from jail

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

A three-week jail sentence did not keep former Ohio State assistant coach Zach Smith off the airwaves. The most recent episode of the Menace 2 Society podcast was launched while Smith was serving a 20-day jail sentence for violating a protection order.

Smith was sentenced to 20 days in jail and fined $750 for violating a protection order with his ex-wife Courtney Carano Smith in May 2019. According to a report from Kyle Rowland of the Toledo Blade, Smith grew confrontational with elementary school staff when he attempted to pick up his children.

Staff from the school called police, who later found that Smith was in violation of the protection order. Recently, Smith recorded the podcast using a payphone from the jail.

“I wanted to really think about how to handle this whole situation as this podcast has grown, this platform has grown,” Smith said. “I thought about — alright, I got to just learn from this, serve my time, figure out how to address this and I’ll deal with it when I get out. The reality is that would be completely the opposite of what I am and who I am and what I believe in. This is real, this is raw, uncut, behind the scenes. Something different than anything else you’ll ever listen to.”

Smith was a member of Ohio State’s staff under Urban Meyer but was fired after allegations of domestic abuse surfaced during B1G Media Days ahead of the 2018 season.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB