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Urban Meyer apologizes for mishandling allegations against Zach Smith at Ohio State
By Andrew Olson
Published:
After Ohio State announced a three-game suspension of Urban Meyer, the Buckeyes head coach spoke at a press conference. He offered apologies for how he handled allegations and incidents involving former assistant coach Zach Smith as well as the comments he made at B1G Media Days in July.
“I know that the impact of the events of the last three weeks have had on the institution that I love and how challenging this has been for our community, our president, a man I have great respect for and for that I am deeply sorry,” Meyer said. “I want to apologize to Buckeye Nation. I followed my heart and not my head. I am fully aware of the situation that has harmed the university as a whole. I followed by heart, not my head. I gave Zach Smith the benefit of the doubt. I didn’t know everything about what Zach Smith was doing. I should have recognized the red flags.”
Meyer also admitted to doing a “poor job,” at B1G Media Days, but said he did not intend to lie or mislead anyone. He was asked at Media Days for a response to a Brett McMurphy report about a 2015 arrest (the police report McMurphy cited had been marked ‘arrest’ in error by the local police department). Meyer disputed the report, saying nothing happened and McMurphy had “created” it.
A former Florida beat reporter, Andrew writes for the Saturday Tradition News Desk.