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Ohio State, Urban Meyer and the NCAA Division I Manual

The Ohio State University (OSU) was bombarded with allegations of misconduct on various fronts involving its athletic department in 2018. A former team doctor, a former diving coach, a former assistant football coach, and the head football coach were accused of misdeeds directly-or indirectly-related to their relationship with OSU. The most publicly debated issue was related to Urban Meyer, the head football coach, and whether he followed proper university procedure or possibly violated his own contract related to a claim of spousal, domestic abuse by one of his former assistant coaches, wide-receiver coach Zach Smith (Zach). Television, radio, the internet and social media blew up with reports and opinions about the various problems at the Columbus, Ohio flagship institution. After an investigation costing $500,000 and managed by a law firm which produced a twenty-three-page report, Meyer was suspended for the first three games of the 2018 season, OSU’s athletic director Gene Smith was also suspended, both without pay. The OSU-sponsored investigation concluded Meyer “misspoke and made misstatements” but “did not…deliberately lie.” However, controversy-and legal issues-are nothing new to OSU, its athletic department, its coaches and its student-athletes. This includes the infamous punch by OSU’s iconic head football coach Woody Hayes after Clemson’s Charlie Bauman intercepted quarterback Art Schlichter’s pass in the 1978 Gator Bowl. This article summarizes some of the more prominent sports law cases or compliance incidents over the last 20 years related to OSU.