I actually was silly enough to think the media circus would go quiet over the weekend.
Boy was I wrong.
Given what I've seen so far OSU isn't getting a lot of help from any (either) of the independent journalists. I think their hope was for the story to go cold while they completed their investigation and then based on what they find take the appropriate action and roll out a NEW narrative to support it.
What I know now.
This situation was a toxic mess of bad behavior followed by he said, she said where both parents look like complete assholes.....whose actions are ruining multiple lives...and the only victims are the poor kids.
There were two arrests with no convictions. Neither arrest has evidence of physical abuse.
There were an incredibly high number of accusations and 911 calls, so the Police were well informed.
The problem was clearly well known within the OSU organization, since other coaches wives were contributing funds for Courtney's legal fees. IOW the idea of a cover up is pretty silly.
What I think I know
Urban reported this up the chain and it's not really a Title IX issue, as the incidents happened off campus and Courtney isn't affiliated with OSU.
Same goes for Ohio Harassment law. Thanks to @KyleLamb
It doesn't appear that Urban could have received evidence that the Police didn't already have. This is likely one thing OSU might have wanted to confirm with the sealed records. But this issue looks specious either way. Why would Courtney show Urban or Shelley something and not the police who seemed to have the route to the Smith house as part of their normal rounds. She could have also shown them to a lawyer. Non issue IMO.
What I think right now
How OSU ever concluded they could fire Zach and not have a clear and comprehensive story for the media o get ahead of this is beyond my comprehension.
The fact that the media picked up on the wrong narrative and ran with it is hardly surprising.
The noise around who tipped who is COMPLETELY irrelevant. Who cares? Complete sideshow.
The media reports from both mothers in law provide fodder that this was a two sided problem, but that is also irrelevant.
Whether Zach Smith did or didn't abuse his wife isn't something Ohio State could have ever figured out here. It's not clear a court of law will be able to decide with all the evidence including the sealed package. BTW I'd hate to be that judge! What a circus.
There is also nothing OSU could have done to fix the Smith marital problems. If ZS was abusing his wife OSU had no tool at it's disposal to make him stop, since the authorities were already engaged up to their eyeballs.
What is clear is that this toxic mess had spread way beyond the Smith household to include the Ohio State coaching staff, and maybe further. This became way more than Zach's problem a few years ago.
I remain convinced that Urban is back on the sidelines.
I'm not convinced that Urban (or Gene) did the best possible job to manage this employee to minimize the negative impact on the coaching staff, team or the University at large. None of the data looks good here, but we don't know what the personnel file looks like and what happened inside the WHAC while Zach was employed to try and control things.
It's hard for me to see them avoid some form of reprimand for the way Zach fired and the public facing messaging to explain it.
Boy was I wrong.
Given what I've seen so far OSU isn't getting a lot of help from any (either) of the independent journalists. I think their hope was for the story to go cold while they completed their investigation and then based on what they find take the appropriate action and roll out a NEW narrative to support it.
What I know now.
This situation was a toxic mess of bad behavior followed by he said, she said where both parents look like complete assholes.....whose actions are ruining multiple lives...and the only victims are the poor kids.
There were two arrests with no convictions. Neither arrest has evidence of physical abuse.
There were an incredibly high number of accusations and 911 calls, so the Police were well informed.
The problem was clearly well known within the OSU organization, since other coaches wives were contributing funds for Courtney's legal fees. IOW the idea of a cover up is pretty silly.
What I think I know
Urban reported this up the chain and it's not really a Title IX issue, as the incidents happened off campus and Courtney isn't affiliated with OSU.
Same goes for Ohio Harassment law. Thanks to @KyleLamb
It doesn't appear that Urban could have received evidence that the Police didn't already have. This is likely one thing OSU might have wanted to confirm with the sealed records. But this issue looks specious either way. Why would Courtney show Urban or Shelley something and not the police who seemed to have the route to the Smith house as part of their normal rounds. She could have also shown them to a lawyer. Non issue IMO.
What I think right now
How OSU ever concluded they could fire Zach and not have a clear and comprehensive story for the media o get ahead of this is beyond my comprehension.
The fact that the media picked up on the wrong narrative and ran with it is hardly surprising.
The noise around who tipped who is COMPLETELY irrelevant. Who cares? Complete sideshow.
The media reports from both mothers in law provide fodder that this was a two sided problem, but that is also irrelevant.
Whether Zach Smith did or didn't abuse his wife isn't something Ohio State could have ever figured out here. It's not clear a court of law will be able to decide with all the evidence including the sealed package. BTW I'd hate to be that judge! What a circus.
There is also nothing OSU could have done to fix the Smith marital problems. If ZS was abusing his wife OSU had no tool at it's disposal to make him stop, since the authorities were already engaged up to their eyeballs.
What is clear is that this toxic mess had spread way beyond the Smith household to include the Ohio State coaching staff, and maybe further. This became way more than Zach's problem a few years ago.
I remain convinced that Urban is back on the sidelines.
I'm not convinced that Urban (or Gene) did the best possible job to manage this employee to minimize the negative impact on the coaching staff, team or the University at large. None of the data looks good here, but we don't know what the personnel file looks like and what happened inside the WHAC while Zach was employed to try and control things.
It's hard for me to see them avoid some form of reprimand for the way Zach fired and the public facing messaging to explain it.
