I know OSU has a lot of money, but it’ll cost $35 million if the can’t show cause, and it sounds like Meyer put that in doubt for the time being.
If the police did investigate the incident in 2015, then Meyer would probably be cleared from a contract standpoint on that one. The AD knew, the police knew, etc. However, the committee might still be investigating when Urban knew and when the police got involved:
According to McMurphy's report, the police were called on October 25th, 2015. I can't tell from the McMurphy report when the text messages between Courtney Smith and Shelley Meyer happened. According to the report Courtney was suffering abuse throughout 2014 and 2015. She called police when the abuse continued after they were separated. IF Courtney and Shelly were exchanging messages as early as 2014, and the police only became involved in late 2015, then Meyer's claims that he always reported such things up the chain is questionable.
Meyer's statement is also questionable simply because it was written by a PR firm(I am assuming) and basically doesn't say anything.
The power of what I say and how I say it, especially regarding sensitive and serious domestic issues, has never been more evident than now. My words, whether in a reply to a reporter's question or in addressing a personnel issue, must be clear, compassionate, and most of all, completely accurate. Unfortunately, at Big Ten Media Days on July 24th, I failed on many of these fronts. My intention was not to say anything inaccurate or misleading. However, I was not adequately prepared to discuss these sensitive personnel issues with the media, and I apologize for the way I handled those questions.
What does that even mean? "I failed on..."
some things? I didn't intend to be "inaccurate or misleading". "I was not adequately prepared to discuss". He fired an assistant coach around reports of abuse. He now admits that he knew of the alleged abuse for 9 years, and the most recent allegation for at 3 years. However with years of knowledge of the accusations and a day after firing the alleged abuser he "was not adequately prepared to discuss" this issue. I find that extremely hard to believe.
The interviews with Zach Smith seem even less believable. He said that he never laid a hand on her. He said that any bruises she has pictures of were "self-defense" and simply an effort by him to get out of the situation. Maybe I am just not very smart, but I believe that a man can get away from a smaller woman without putting bruises on her neck and bruises and marks on her arms.
Meyer's statement sounds like he did nothing wrong. However, it sounds like pure spin. I might be wrong, but I still believe that from an OSU standpoint, the biggest question at the moment is whether they will have to pay the buyout or not. From what I understand, the committee investigating is completely made up of current or former OSU Trustees. I think the trustees are going to be more concerned about the university than the football team. Also, OSU is a public school unlike Baylor. They are going to be subject to FOI requests, which will make hiding the actual results of the investigation more difficult.
