Report: Investigators knew of Zach Smith’s sexual encounter with staffer before Brett McMurphy article

Stadium reporter Brett McMurphy rocked the college football world last week when he revealed that former Ohio State assistant coach Zach Smith had sex toys delivered to the Buckeyes football offices, took nude photos of himself during the team’s visit to the White House and had sex with an OSU subordinate in the coaches offices. The last item would likely be of most relevance to the current investigation surrounding how Urban Meyer and the rest of the athletic department handled allegations of misconduct (including domestic abuse) against Smith. While McMurphy’s report came as a surprise to football fans, a source close to the Ohio State investigation says investigators were already aware of the encounter.

The detail is revealed in an article by Tim May of The Columbus Dispatch. Sources close to the investigation have been sharing details of the investigation to Dispatch reporters.

“That was not a secret,” said one of the witnesses who spoke to The Dispatch, indicating the woman’s name had come up during earlier questioning.

Publicly known interviewees in the investigation include Smith, Meyer, Lynn Bruce (mother of Zach Smith) and Tina Carano (estranged mother of Courtney Smith). The source who spoke to the Dispatch indicated many more witnesses were interviewed.

But insiders said many more witnesses were called, including members of the Ohio State athletic administration, the OSU football administrative office and the coaching staff.

“It seems like they turned over pretty much every rock you could think of,” one of the witnesses told The Dispatch. “Their attention to detail was impressive.”

More from May’s report on the investigation can be read here.

Andrew Olson

A former Florida beat reporter, Andrew writes for the Saturday Tradition News Desk.