Urban Meyer Had Reportedly Been Trying To Quietly Get His Assistant Coach Zach Smith a Different Job After Some Pesky Reports Of...Beating Up His Pregnant Wife Came Out.
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This is a guy who has been on Urban’s staff for 11 years across UF and OSU. Smith’s ENTIRE coaching career has been tied to Urban, starting in 2005. He was the last remaining assistant from Urban’s 2012 staff. Solid coach…and the grandson of Urban’s mentor. Seems like he was doing a pretty good job considering the seasons OSU has had lately. One small problem?
It would appear that Coach Smith was a little something we like to call a “garbage human.”
I asked our resident college football expert Jack Mac for some additional background on Smith and he reminded me of some other details – Zach Smith has long been known as one of the biggest douches in college football. He, a 34-year-old man, has gotten into subtweet battles with recruits on Twitter. That recruit ended up going to Nebraska and was arrested a year ago or so, which Zach Smith immediately commented on (people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones). He even has gotten into the mud with Lavar Ball, accusing him of stealing “his” logo for the Ohio State WR core:
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In 2009 he was arrested for aggravated battery on his pregnant wife. His wife who was pregnant with his child. Allegedly beat her. On their one year wedding anniversary.
On June 21, 2009, according to a Gainesville (Fla.) Police Incident report, Courtney, then 24, stated her husband Zach, then 25, “picked her up by grabbing her T-shirt and threw her against the bedroom wall located upstairs in their apartment.”
That was about 10 years ago, still going strong on Urban’s staff.
Now a few years ago in 2015, the ex-wife filed a protective order against him over another domestic abuse allegation.
He was in court last week for criminal trespassing:
SOURCE-According to an arrest record obtained by Eleven Warriors, police were dispatched to the home of Courtney Carano Smith, Zach Smith’s ex-wife, around 8 p.m. on May 12. The report indicates that there was no forced entry and no suspected use of alcohol or drugs. Smith was charged with criminal trespassing, and has since pleaded not guilty.
According to the criminal complaint also obtained by Eleven Warriors, “Mr. Smith took his son to his ex-wife’s residence (redacted) to drop him off after being instructed by Ms. Smith not to come to her residence and disregarding a previous criminal trespass warning that had been given to him by Detective Pentz on Dec. 19, 2017 at 2 p.m. The incident was witnessed by Ms. Smith and their son along with photographs of Mr. Smith’s vehicle being present in her driveway. Mr. Smith also admitted to Sgt. Roach that he was present on Ms. Smith’s property and acknowledged receipt of the trespass warning given to him by Detective Pentz.”
Seems like Coach has a thing for harassing women. Bet it makes him feel like a big strong man, pushing around his pregnant wife, with a baby inside of her.
Obviously scum, but the part I noticed is that maybe it’s not as obvious as I thought? Urban did keep him on the staff after all. Not only did he keep him, he actively encouraged him to interview for other jobs, according to reports.
A cynic might think he was trying to sneak something by and turn the situation into a positive of a good coach moving on to greener pastures, no harm, no foul. Only problem is somebody dug into the police reports and saw the guy allegedly kicking the crap out of his pregnant wife. Maybe he just didn’t know about what happened in the past kind of like how Joe Pa didn’t.
Maybe his grandfather being his mentor and speaking at his funeral had something to do with it, who knows:
Urban Meyer saw former OSU coach Earle Bruce as a mentor:
“I’ve made it clear many times that, other than my father, Coach Bruce was the most influential man in my life,” Meyer said. “Every significant decision I’ve made growing up in this profession was with him involved in it. His wife [Jean] and he were the role models for Shelley and me. They did everything with class. He was not afraid to show how much he loved his family and cared for his family.”
Earle Bruce passed away this April. Urban gave the eulogy at his funeral. Here is how that relates to this story: Zach Smith is Earle Bruce’s grandson. There has always been speculation that Smith has been kept around because of that. When most coaches would’ve been fired for his ridiculous Twitter tactics, Urban gave Zach another shot. When most coaches would’ve been fired for subpar coaching of elite receiving cores, Urban gave Zach another shot.
Unfortunately for Bruce, abusing his wife and constantly harassing her was where the program had to draw the line. You hate to see it.
[h/t Eleven Warriors]