The fate of Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer will be discussed at an OSU board of trustees meeting on Wednesday morning. (Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer)

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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Win the moment.

Among the constantly evolving motivational phrases associated with Ohio State football since Urban Meyer was hired late in 2011, these are the three words currently bellowed during practice and lighting up the video board in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

This is what coaches are requesting of players during preparations for the football season that will begin on Sept. 1 against Oregon State, no matter who is coaching the Buckeyes.

It's also what Ohio State University president Michael Drake and the OSU Board of Trustees will try to do Wednesday morning when they meet to discuss, and then soon after decide, the fate of Meyer, who has been on paid administrative leave for three weeks.

Ohio State has lost for a month, but now will want to win this moment, whatever the decision.

"Timing is one of the most important factors in a crisis," said Karen Freberg, an associate professor of strategic communications at the University of Louisville and a consultant on crisis communications and public relations. "In times of a crisis, you don't want uncertainty."

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Since the first reports of domestic abuse allegations against OSU receivers coach Zach Smith, who was fired soon after on July 23, this drama has involved confusing and sometimes sordid levels of uncertainty.

Meyer's words the day after Smith's firing were confusing enough for him to release a statement clarifying and apologizing for his remarks a week later. Freberg would have suggested updates along the way, but the university has said nothing other than releasing details here and there on who is conducting the investigation into how abuse allegations from Smith's ex-wife were handled in 2015. Meanwhile, the story has remained a national focus.

So Ohio State wants to win now.

Yes, the university also seeks the truth and a fair and equitable resolution for those involved, if that's possible.

But this story has lingered. And Ohio State wants to be done.

Reports by the Columbus Dispatch and other media outlets have suggested a potential suspension for Meyer, rather than a dismissal. Whether he's reinstated, suspended or fired, some portion of the populace will be angered.

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Don't be shocked by any decision. The investigators may make a suggestion, but the decision will be made by Drake, who fired marching band director Jon Waters in 2014 after an investigation found a sexualized culture around the band that Drake held Waters accountable for, in a decision that surprised some.

The board, of course, will hold much sway on the issue as well. In 2011, Jim Tressel was forced to resign over bad PR for the school as much as for the specifics of breaking any NCAA rules for not reporting his players trading trophies for tattoos.

It's easy to think football is king at a place like Ohio State. And maybe it is. But get outside the palace gates, and there's a great big world out there, and Ohio State's standing in that world has been lessened by this.

This isn't only a football decision. This is a university decision, and a moment this president and this board have been waiting nearly a full month for, since Smith's firing on July 23.

Once the decision comes down, Ohio State will find some relief in the moment just by making a decision. But there will be immediate fallout, and damage control, either way.

In considering the decision at hand, and what comes after Meyer's fate is decided, keep these three areas in mind.

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About 200 fans rallied outside Ohio Stadium in support of Urban Meyer on Aug. 6, after he was placed on paid administrative leave. (Mitch Stacy, Associated Press)

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1. Public relations

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If Ohio State wanted to fire Meyer, that could have occurred weeks ago and ended the brunt of the unwanted debate around this circumstance. The fact that it has dragged out this long seems to be a reason to think Meyer could stay. But to fire Meyer with cause, and not owe Meyer nearly $40 million, Ohio State needed all the facts.

Ohio State commissioned this two-week investigation. If the investigation found that Meyer followed the rules as required by his contract and Ohio State's policies, it would seem odd if he were fired anyway. But one member of the Columbus community who deals with Ohio State on a regular basis is convinced Meyer will be let go.

PR isn't the most important part of this equation. But it's there.

"Preventable crises, those are the worst ones. Everyone's looking around saying, 'Why did we do this?' And in those situations, it's a lot harder to recover your reputation," Freberg said.

Hiring Zach Smith at Ohio State in 2012, after he faced domestic abuse allegations under Meyer at Florida in 2009, would fall under a preventable crisis. That can't be changed.

"You have to think carefully about your reputation," Freberg said, "but be prepared that whatever action you take, it will impact your reputation. It may not recover overnight, but whatever you do, you need to take responsibility and you need to take action and you need to ensure this will never happen again."

Freberg believes that punishment, not just a policy change and an apology, is needed to facilitate the rebuilding of that reputation from a PR perspective.

"If you apologize, but nothing happens, what kind of message does that send?" she asked.

Without some discipline for Meyer and/or athletic director Gene Smith, it may be more difficult for Ohio State to win the moment.

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Ohio State University President Michael Drake will make the final decision on the futures of Urban Meyer and Gene Smith. (John Minchillo, Associated Press)

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2. Employer responsibility

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Richard Quinby, an attorney with Barton Gilman in Boston, is an expert in employment law, but he previously tried hundreds of family law cases as a district attorney in Columbus.

In this complicated situation, he believes Ohio State not firing Zach Smith in 2015 when Powell police did not file any charges against him, was a reasonable move by an employer.

We don't know yet exactly how the allegations against Zach Smith were dealt with, other than Smith saying that Gene Smith called him back from a recruiting trip and that Meyer told him if he ever hit his ex-wife Courtney, he'd be fired. But Quinby's suggestion and expectation in such a situation would be for Ohio State to have hired an outside agency to check into Smith in 2015 by speaking to him and the police, but perhaps not with Courtney Smith.

She said Ohio State never spoke to her at the time.

"That's where Ohio State had to draw a line in the sand and decide what to do, and I give them credit if they did their due diligence and decided they weren't persuaded that he was responsible here, and we cannot fire him if we don't know," Quinby said.

Quinby said any employment investigation would look for a preponderance of the evidence, basically a 51 percent belief that an employee should be fired. The standard isn't beyond a reasonable doubt, as in a court of law.

But Quinby said the "he said, she said" nature of domestic abuse allegations, which has played out very publicly over the last three weeks, can make this very difficult for employers.

"There is no certainty here," Quinby said.

He made it clear this responsibility would not fall on Meyer, but on OSU higher-ups. As for the idea of a suspension, Quinby believes a black and white assessment of the issue makes more sense for Ohio State. If Meyer and Smith followed procedures, they're back. If they did not, they're gone.

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Former Ohio State receivers coach Zach Smith was accused of domestic abuse by his ex-wife, but never charged by police. (Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer)

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3. Domestic violence

Lost in the sides taken around Zach Smith and Courtney Smith is the simple desire to help a woman in need. While Zach Smith has contended this was a private marital issue, the Ohio Domestic Violence Network (ODVN) emphasizes the need for the community to get involved in an issue that can lead to victims feeling alone.

"Ohio State still has an opportunity to do some good, for this family and then for others associated with Ohio State now and in the future," said Cathleen Alexander, a trauma specialist with the ODVN. "The debate over 'he said, she said' and should Urban Meyer be fired, it's not really the point to me. I don't know what any of that would serve at this point. Is (firing Meyer) warranted? I don't know. But it doesn't entirely seem like those are the right questions. The right questions are, 'Did we do everything the way we wish we had, and if we didn't what are we going to do going forward and who's going to help us do that?'"

Alexander believes Ohio State's sexual misconduct policy is a strong one, and one that correctly gives the benefit of the doubt to someone making allegations of domestic abuse.

Executing that policy can be difficult.

"Through medical or mental health resources, you would want the attention to go toward making sure that the victim is heard and supported," Alexander said. "What you would not want to see is any effort to squelch the story or silence the victim."

From what is known now, Alexander wishes Ohio State had done more to reach out to Courtney Smith, not necessarily as part of an investigation of her husband, but just to help.

"There are so many resources at Ohio State that might have been brought to bear on the situation," Alexander said. "There's a big difference between doing the minimum necessary and really substantively abiding by the spirit of the written policy, which is to take a pro-victim approach, a pro-safety approach, a pro-accountability approach."

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The decision isn't only about Meyer and Gene Smith.

Zach Smith is gone and not coming back. Whether a football coach and an athletic director retain their jobs or are fired is of major consequence. What happens with Meyer is a potentially transformative moment for Ohio State football.

But also at play are the reputation of Ohio State, the responsibility of Ohio State and the opportunity for Ohio State to actively assist the community.

Maybe Ohio State can't win the moment. But it can try. What happens with Urban Meyer is only part of that.