Urban Meyer, left, OSU president Michael Drake, center, and athletic director Gene Smith, right, at Wednesday's news conference announcing suspensions for Meyer and Smith. (Paul Vernon, Associated Press)

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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- If you're worn out on Urban Meyer, Ohio State and the decision made Wednesday by OSU President Michael Drake and the Ohio State Board of Trustees to suspend Meyer for the first three games and athletic director Gene Smith for three weeks, this may not be for you.

This is game week, with interim coach Ryan Day meeting the media for the first time Monday, and the season opener against Oregon State ahead on Saturday.

I've written many articles on this, and heard many strongly-worded responses from readers. But I feel as if one more time laying out the middle ground on several issues is worth it, because there still seems to be so much disconnect around how people view what happened.

I won't pretend to have the answers, but maybe a few clarifications.

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Both Gene Smith, left, and Urban Meyer, right, made mistakes in their handling of Gene Smith that warranted their suspensions. (Paul Vernon, Associated Press)

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HOW URBAN MEYER AND GENE SMITH HANDLED THE ABUSE CLAIMS

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1. Much has been written about Meyer, and to an extent Gene Smith, enabling Zach Smith as an abuser. I don't think they did. First, as much as getting charges in domestic violence cases can be difficult, he's still only an alleged abuser. Until he's convicted of a crime, and he hasn't even been charged yet, that fact remains - alleged abuser.

2. The report commissioned by Ohio State concluded that if Zach Smith had ever been charged with a domestic violence crime, he would have been fired by Ohio State. I believe that to be true, if only because charges would have made the issue more likely to become public, and Ohio State wouldn't have wanted that bad publicity - like they're getting now.

3. People have disputed Courtney Smith's claims of abuse. That doesn't mean her claims aren't true. But it means this case is confusing. That confusion has to be acknowledged. To say Meyer "enabled an abuser' by employing Zach Smith treats this as a clear issue, when domestic violence so often isn't that. The fact that charges weren't filed would lead to reasonable hesitation about firing Zach Smith. The uncertainty must be included in your evaluation of what happened.

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Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith could have fired Zach Smith himself, and he wanted to after the 2015 season. But he didn't. (Paul Vernon, Associated Press)

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WHAT URBAN MEYER AND GENE SMITH DID WRONG

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4. Zach Smith ran amok as an Ohio State employee for the last three years, and that Meyer and Smith allowed it to happen is inexplicable. Meyer and Gene Smith deserve to be punished for that, for knowing some things about Zach Smith, not knowing some things they should have known and generally letting him run wild. Maybe firing Zach Smith wouldn't have helped Courtney Smith, but it would have protected the football program and its players from someone who was shirking his duties.

5. Various social media posts since the decision, including one from a lawyer who has represented Gene Smith in this, have attempted to point Gene Smith and Meyer has kinds of victims here. Meyer's oldest daughter retweeted those lawyer's words, one of many clear signs during this of how the Meyer family views what has happened. They are not victims. They could have stopped Zach Smith earlier and they didn't. These are their consequences.

6. Meyer's lack of honesty in dealing with this, whether it was discussing the idea of deleting text messages, admittedly not telling the truth at a news conference, or issuing two statements to clear up public failures with his words, should lessen Ohio State's confidence in him. He also did harm to his reputation with his words, when the focus should have been on his actions. But I don't think you get fired for that.

7. Why did Gene Smith not fire Zach Smith? He holds the ultimate authority there, and he had no personal loyalty to Zach Smith. Gene Smith suggested to Meyer after 2015 that Zach Smith be fired, and Meyer said no. Gene Smith could have made him do it, and he probably should have.

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DEALING WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

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8. Women reaching out with claims of abuse need to be believed and need to be helped. Domestic violence is an isolating crime that needs community involvement and action. Women claiming abuse deserve the presumption of truth in terms of getting them resources to escape the abuse and in investigating their claims.

That presumption should mean checking into the alleged abuse. In this case, the Powell police did that to some degree. They have refused to hand over records, claiming narrative descriptions of incident reports involving Zach Smith and Courtney Smith are no subject to public records laws. But she did reach out to police multiple times, and they did respond.

9. Questioning the credibility of a woman claiming abuse should never be a knee-jerk reaction. Anyone with that in their head as an initial response doesn't get it. That's an incredibly important reality for society to agree upon. The way Courtney Smith's credibility has been questioned in some quarters is disheartening.

10. However, that doesn't guarantee everything she has said is absolutely true. Zach Smith has admitted to an aggressive, volatile relationship and has admitted to physically putting his hands on his ex-wife at times, though he claims it was in self-defense. She had photos of injuries. So something happened. And that's not acceptable.

11. Here comes what to me is an important distinction. If Zach Smith did nothing else wrong, I think Ohio State could have fired him only off the domestic abuse allegations, if it wanted to. Maybe they would have fired him without cause, but knowing what we know about domestic abuse, charges shouldn't required for an employer to act.

However ... I think charges are important if you want to fire Urban Meyer and Gene Smith for NOT firing Zach Smith. That's because they are a step removed. Zach Smith is the participant in the issue. He's part of this. He gets less benefit of the doubt. If Gene Smith and Urban Meyer KNEW that Zach Smith had been charged or convicted of a serious crime like domestic abuse, then yes, fire them for not firing him.

But, to repeat, for people a step removed from the process? I think charges is a reasonable threshold. In the end, if you want Meyer gone, the case is centered around firing him for not firing someone not charged with a crime.

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Mary Jo White, with the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, was hired by Ohio State to lead the investigation into how Urban Meyer handled Zach Smith. (Paul Vernon, Associated Press)

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IN CONCLUSION

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12. Too much of the coverage of this has attacked Meyer for an indifference toward abuse without taking into account the disputes around what happened, and the lack of charges.

13. Meyer's general dishonesty in several instances should lessen Ohio State's faith in him. I think that could be fireable but didn't have to be fireable. Ohio State made its choice, and I think a suspension is reasonable.

14. As a general rule, we should believe women who allege abuse. That's a way for the law and for families to approach things. But in a specific case, the employer of the spouse should not be required to act on an accusation without a charge. That employer could, and should, reach out to assist with the resources it has available.

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Urban Meyer will serve a three-game suspension for how he handled Zach Smith as an assistant coach for the last six seasons. (Paul Vernon, Associated Press)

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OUTCOMES

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15. Urban Meyer - A loss of trust.

16. Gene Smith - Have to question his leadership.

17. Zach Smith - Deserving of firing for a multitude of reasons.

18. This domestic violence case - Treat it seriously, while admitting uncertainty around it.

19. Media coverage - Often dug in on one side or the other, when the case is really in the middle. There has been a certainty of opinion greater than a certainty of facts.

20 Ohio State's decision - Could have been firings, but not enough to demand it. The school could make this call without being accused of prioritizing winning at all costs.

21. The future - Football is coming. The suspensions are warranted. This will linger. There's a need to ensure strict and appropriate handling of future cases. More oversight is needed for the football program. Some people will move on. Others will remain angry - on both sides.