SteemSports Presenter:
SteemSports Editor:
Remarkably, THE Ohio State University, an institution of higher learning, where young men and women go to get an advanced education and set themselves up to be future leaders and hopefully honorable members of society, somehow doesn't understand, or maybe refuses to use the word "accountability" in their vocabulary. Odd for an "institution of higher learning" to seemingly have their entire governing body right down from the President, to the Board of Trustee members, to the coaches who's job it is to coach a football team, but more even more importantly, to be leaders of young men, that none of them seem to understand the meaning of accountability. <hr. "Accountability" according to the dictionary is "the fact or condition of being accountable, responsibility". The example given is, "their lack of accountability has corroded public respect". Hmm, sounds an awful like the aftermath of yesterday's announcement by THE Ohio State University that head football coach Urban Meyer would be suspended for the first 3 games of the season, and that Athletic Director Gene Smith would be suspended for a few weeks. What was missing from both of those men in their statements at yesterday's press conference, and really anyone at Ohio State was them taking responsibility or excuse me, accountability, for what transpired under their watch.
This isn't a recounting of the all of the details of the entire situation surrounding former assistant coach Zach Smith, all of those have been well-documented, nor is it an opinion on what those penalties - suspensions (or dismissals?) should have been, etc. It has to do with nobody - not a single freaking person, taking accountability for continuing to employ a man, who was in a position of being a leader and an example to young men, that repeatedly broke University protocol, was a documented woman abuser, had sexual relations with a staffer on campus, in his office (who was then subsequently re-assigned to a different department), took inappropriate pictures of himself at the White House of all places on his University issued phone, and had other inappropriate materials (i.e. sex toys) delivered to his office on-campus. The bigger issue is that Zach Smith broke rules, didn't uphold himself to university standards, had a documented history of physical abuse, and was allowed to continually break these rules and still be employed.
Courtney Smith would not have sent pictures of her bruises to Urban Meyer's wife, Shelley, had she not been reaching out for help. Yes, she did not reach out to Urban Meyer directly, but we all know that Shelley certainly shared that information with her husband. The text she sent to Meyer after Smith was released, indicated that she was worried about how Smith would respond. "He drinks a lot and I am just not sure how stable he will be. Afraid he he will do something dangerous. It's obvious he has anger/ rage issues already." There you go, all you really need to know already, if Meyer's wife knew that Smith had anger and rage issues and was unstable, surely the man that employed him on his staff for so many years knew as well.
It is not Urban Meyer's job to necessarily be the judge and jury on Smith's complicated relationship with his now ex-wife, and he has mentioned the concerns that he and his wife supposedly had about the reliability of Courtney Smith. Those concerns should have been elieviated when pictures where sent to Shelley of Courtney's bruises. What Meyer failed to understand as he took the podium for a sad excuse of a press conference late yesterday was he was asked about what he knew and he lied about it. He had a chance to take accountability for employing a man who had no business being employed by an institution of higher learning for as long as he did. He could have took responsibility for lying to everyone about it when asked about it, and instead just said he was "sorry to everyone for the position we find ourselves in today." He was far more "sorry" to "Buckeye Nation" for the seemingly have to deal with these distractions right before the season kicks off. He handled himself with arrogance and it was clear he really didn't understand the full reach of this probe and why it was conducted.
How about being sorry to the young men you are taxed with being an undisputed leader to for continually employing a man who broke university protocol and clearly struggled with matters inconsistent to being a position to lead young men. How about apologizing to the parents of players and students who send their children to this institution for a degree, and instead get to deal with this inappropriateness. How about apologizing to Courtney Smith for not being more pro-active and for not firing her husband long ago for his transgressions? How about apologizing to her for lying about her situation when asked about it? How about admitting that you actually made a mistake?
In the end, it is debatable whether Urban Meyer and Gene Smith should have had stricter penalties doled out, whether either man or both should have been dismissed, etc. and those debates are already ongoing in full-force - and rightfully so. What isn't debatable is that THE Ohio State University had an opportunity yesterday - an opportunity to take center stage and take accountability for the football department and athletic department's oversights and lack of action. To standup and say, we employed a man who had no business being employed for as long as he was. We stood behind him without doing our due-diligence and without holding him accountable for his despicable actions. We were wrong. But, apparently nobody at Ohio State wants to admit that they were wrong and that they could have handled this disgrace of a former employee's situation much better, and that they were wrong to lie about it. Instead, we got a couple of vague statements from Gene Smith, a vague apology without sincerity from Urban Meyer and a couple of week's suspension for of them as the University attempted to save-face.
These "men" are all supposed to be leaders of other young men. Young men who are all very impressionable, 18-22 year olds who are coming into their own and learning about who they really are and what they stand for. The really sad part out of all of this - they were led by a man who was a documented abuser, broke university protocol several times, essentially did whatever he wanted to while at his office at the University or even in the White House, and was never held in-check for it. What was taught to these young men was that apparently, you don't have to take accountability for your actions as long as you can prevent it from being addressed. Urban Meyer was in-charge of that man. Those two men showed other impressionable young men that it was apparently ok to do these things without repercussion. The truth is, these men have failed as leaders, because true "men" take accountability for their actions - and they teach and preach accountability for one's actions or lack of action when it is required - they just don't write on a wall to treat women with respect, they embody the mantra through their actions - something that THE Ohio State University sadly still doesn't understand after all of this.
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