Ohio State Football: Urban Meyer Reacts to Tumultuous State of Football

COLUMBUS, Ohio — With Ohio State enjoying a bye, Urban Meyer has had a little extra time to hit the gym this week. But what the Buckeyes head coach has typically used as a distraction during his daily treadmill trips hasn't been particularly enjoyable in recent days, as SportsCenter has showcased a steady stream of off-the-field football issues.

Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, Greg Hardy, Jameis Winston and Jonathan Dwyer have dominated headlines in the sports world for the past two weeks, and for all the wrong reasons. Meyer, for his part, has taken notice, and claims to have used each case as a lesson for his team.

"They know it, they see it. How do you not see it? I go work out, and I put on the thing and I noticed today every one of them, for I want to say 20 to 30 minutes, was issues. Not just NFL—college. They’re all teachable moments," Meyer said on Wednesday. "I think everybody in the country is using it.”

Meyer and disciplinary issues have always seemed to go hand in hand, ever since he oversaw a Florida program that endured 31 player arrests from 2005-2010. In less than three full years at Ohio State, no fewer than 10 Buckeyes have been arrested since Meyer took over the program in 2012.

How Meyer has handled discipline since coming to Columbus from Gainesville has evolved, although a few of the current issues in the news have certainly hit home for the Ohio State head coach. Domestic violence was at the core of the arrest of Gators running back Chris Rainey in 2010, as well as a 2013 investigation of former Ohio State running back Carlos Hyde, which didn't result in any charges being filed.

“We had a couple issues that we had to evaluate, but yeah," Meyer responded when asked if he had a zero tolerance policy toward domestic violence. "That’s one of the core values."

The other core values can be found plastered across a wall inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, underneath bolded red letters that spell out "DECISIONS." It should be noted, however, that not all of the Buckeyes' core values carry a zero tolerance policy, as evidenced by Ohio State's decision to stick by suspended All-Big Ten defensive end Noah Spence following his second failed drug test in less than a year, per ESPN.com's Austin Ward.

Nevertheless, this week's bye, coupled with football's seemingly never-ending barrage of bad news, has created a perfect storm for Meyer to preach the importance of off-the-field conduct to his players. Additional meetings on the topic have been held according to Buckeye players, who, like Meyer, haven't been shielded from the negativity surrounding their sport in recent weeks.

"We had some sessions over it," said sophomore safety Tyvis Powell. "Just basically telling us to be smart and make the right decisions."

Seems simple enough, at least in a team meeting or press conference setting, where saying or doing the right thing is more of a formality than anything else. But when one gets away from the coaches and cameras, it can be a different story, which was the lesson that the Ohio State players took away from the latest incident involving Winston.

The reigning Heisman Trophy winner, Winston will be suspended for the first game of Florida State's clash with Clemson this weekend after the sophomore quarterback was caught shouting a vulgar phrase (link contains NSFW language) at an FSU dining hall. And while Powell maintains that neither he nor his teammates would ever put themselves in that predicament, he also noted that the spotlight rarely dims for high-profile figures.

"People just gotta be smart about what they're doing," Powell said. "With or without a camera in front of you, you should always try to live your life right and do the right things. The fame might be getting to them or they get caught up in the fame and they forget about who they really are and what they're trying to do with their lives."

That was the sentiment echoed by senior wide receiver Evan Spencer, who expressed disappointment, in particular, with the current ongoing domestic violence issues in the NFL. The son of former NFL running back and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant Tim Spencer, the Ohio State wideout said that he believes that professionals should be held to a higher standard, given their status in society.

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"So many people look up to them, when they go out and do something that's maybe not viewed as right or obviously not moral, they have to live up to the standard that they perpetuate on the field," Spencer said. "They have to take responsibility for what they've done."

But as Powell pointed out, society's problems aren't only persistent on the football field. In fact, a recent study conducted by FiveThirtyEight.com's Benjamin Morris showed that the arrest rate in the NFL for domestic violence is significantly lower than the national average.

"Although it seems like it's all football players that's doing it, it's not just football players," Powell said. "Everyone in society is doing it."

And while that may be true, Meyer is determined to prevent his players from becoming a part of that problem. Which is why the last image that the Buckeyes see before leaving their training facility is their head coach's list of values, a notice that their decisions affect more than just themselves.

"It’s a reminder every time that we leave the Woody [Hayes Athletic Center] that you have to represent something that's one, for yourself and two, that’s bigger than yourself," Spencer said. "When we look at it, we really try to set an image after we leave here that we are gonna be respectful and be trustworthy and honest and treat everybody with respect and just be a good citizen."

As football has shown us in the last few weeks, sometimes that's easier said than done.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Ohio State Lead Writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.