Dear National Media, haters of Urban Meyer, haters of Ohio State football,



SHUT UP

Get off your high horses and look at the facts of the case. Should Urban have fired Zach Smith a while ago? Yes. Did he make a mistake for being loyal to his mentor, a father figure to him, for keeping his grandson with the program for as long as he did? Yes. Should Urban have lied to the media at Media Days about what he knew about the situation? No, he shouldn’t have.

That being said, Urban Meyer didn’t deserve a 3-game suspension, let alone be fired. Urban Meyer didn’t need to apologize to Courtney Carano Smith.

The National Media, and fans are concerned with essentially only one report, and that’s Brett McMurphy. The reporter, who before this whole fiasco I had a lot of respect for. What McMurphy has done is basically made the divorce of Courtney and Zach incredibly public, when a divorce between two people shouldn’t be made public. Unfortunately, Zach’s legacy as Earl Bruce’s grandson, and his affiliation with the school were enough for McMurphy to think it was ok to run with such allegations.

McMurphy’s initial report had so many inaccuracies attached to it, he had to edit his Facebook post multiple times and didn’t bother to let people know he was doing it. So the National Media, who respect McMurphy for his previous reporting (as I did before this, as mentioned), ran with it. Talked it up. Without thinking who will be hurt in this whole fiasco. Not Courtney and Zach’s kids who will forever have to hear about this because of who their parents are, when details like this should’ve been kept quiet.



I’m not saying what Courtney Carano Smith is alleging happened, didn’t happen. But frankly, it’s none of anyone of our business. The only reason it’s in the news is because of Zach’s association with Ohio State.



Which brings me back to Urban Meyer. Urban shouldn’t have been suspended because he followed protocol with the university’s guidelines. As mentioned before, his loyalties to Bruce, clouded his judgement to keep Zach on the staff, but that’s not a fireable offense. Is it suspendable? Sure. And by the time the press conference finished last week with the independent investigators, President Drake and Urban and AD Gene Smith, Urban had already been suspended from his program for 3 weeks. During Camp. Which is a crucial time of year for a Head Coach.



As far as those people who thought Urban should’ve apologized to Courtney Smith. WHY?!?!? What did Urban do to her? Nothing. The fact that the National Media was on their high horse about this is just comical. Urban Meyer did NOTHING to Courtney Carano Smith. So because of this, Urban shouldn’t have had to apologize to her.

That being said, the reason that Urban is suspended and forced a couple days later to apologize in a statement from Urban, was because of the Public Relations department of Ohio State. PR knew the backlash Ohio State would receive if Urban didn’t get anything. They heard the national media whining about Urban not apologizing, and made him apologize.

Bottom Line, National media backlash, McMurphy’s reporting of this private divorce from one side, while also having to edit his reporting without a retraction notification, Urban Meyer lying to the media (which isn’t uncommon for a coach to lie to the media on a daily basis) is why we’re in this situation. Urban Meyer shouldn’t have had the 3-game suspension and shouldn’t have had to apologize to Courtney.



Signed,



Billy Lindahl