Urban Meyer said Tuesday morning he was aware of domestic abuse allegations against former Ohio State assistant coach Zach Smith stemming from an incident in 2009.
Smith was arrested for aggravated battery in 2009 after allegedly grabbing his then-wife, who was pregnant at the time, by her T-shirt and shoving her against a wall. Charges were not filed against Smith, who was a graduate assistant for Meyer at Florida at the time.
"It came back to me what was reported wasn't actually what happened," Meyer said at Big Ten media days. "So Shelley and I actually both got involved because of our relationship with that family and advised for counseling and wanted to help moving forward."
As first reported by Brett McMurphy, Smith was served with a domestic violence protection order Friday after being charged with criminal trespassing Wednesday. Smith reportedly dropped his son off at his ex-wife's residence during a custody exchange, instead of at a pre-arraigned public setting, which violated an earlier trespassing warning he received in 2017.
Ohio State announced Monday that Smith had been fired. He was the sole remaining member of Meyer's first staff at Ohio State, and had been an assistant under Meyer for 11 seasons.
"It was in the best interest of our team," Meyer said.
Meyer disputed reports of a 2015 incident in which Smith was arrested for domestic violence and assault.
"I got a text late last night that something happened in 2015, and there was nothing," Meyer said. "Once again, I don't know who creates a story like that."
Meyer was later asked if the decision to fire Smith was influenced by public opinion. He said it did "a little bit."
"I really don't care about that, I try to stay focused on what's the most important thing, and that's our players and our team," Meyer said. "But I do understand the value, it's the Ohio State University, it's bigger than all of us. You have to do what's right by them. The timing, it wasn't just my decision, it was a group effort on several people that I rely on."
