Ohio State made people wait. A very long time, in fact, even just in terms of today; as OSU power-brokers met to decide the fate of Urban Meyer, their deliberations dragged from morning to night. Literally:
Hour 13 of Urban Meyer watch, and that’s the moon up there pic.twitter.com/6sl7rOhti5
— Chuck Culpepper (@ChuckCulpepper1) August 23, 2018
To reiterate, the meeting was an effort to figure out just what to do with Meyer, who has denied any knowledge of long-time assistant Zach Smith being accused of domestic violence. The three sides (the board of trustees, the university president, and Meyer) were reportedly at odds.
CliffsNotes version (from what I've been told): Ohio State's BoT wants to reinstate Urban Meyer immediately. University president Michael Drake is balking at that; wants Meyer to serve a suspension. Meyer refuses to serve suspension since he thinks he did nothing wrong. #Buckeyes
— Dave Biddle (@davebiddle) August 22, 2018
Then, in a hastily-arranged 8:50 PM news conference, Ohio State announced the outcome of those meetings: Urban Meyer will serve a three-game suspension this season.
Urban Meyer has been suspended for Ohio State's first three games.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) August 23, 2018
And in addition, athletic director Gene Smith was also suspended for a seventeen-day period from August 31st through September 16th. Ohio State’s statement on the matter seems to attempt to walk a very fine line:
Statement from Ohio State on Urban Meyer and Gene Smith suspensions: pic.twitter.com/WFc4FW2a4s
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) August 23, 2018
So, essentially, Ohio State is saying that Meyer and Smith didn’t condone or cover up Smith’s behavior, but also that they did know about it and let him stay on the staff. That’s certainly a very fine line, and it’s difficult to determine exactly how they’re separating those actions.
But, Meyer won’t be on the sidelines for Ohio State’s first three games. That’s certainly something.
