Zach Smith's Brother Carter Defends Him, Talks Domestic Abuse in Tweet

The brother of former Ohio State Buckeyes assistant coach Zach Smith posted a statement on Twitter on Saturday addressing the ongoing story involving Smith and his ex-wife Courtney.

Carter Smith wrote that "Zach and Courtney Smith had a toxic marriage" but that Zach was never physical with Courtney. Carter added that Courtney had "[abused] her husband, her mother and her mother in law":

Ohio State fired Smith after a judge granted Courtney an order of protection from him. The judge made the ruling after determining Courtney "is in immediate and present danger of domestic violence," per Stadium's Brett McMurphy.

The Columbus Dispatch's Ray Stein also reported police arrived at the Courtney Smith's home on two occasions in the fall of 2015. The first time involved an alleged dispute and officers investigated a report of menacing by stalking on the second occasion.

McMurphy also shared alleged texts exchanges where Smith sent threatening messages to Courtney, and Courtney provided photos of injuries she said she suffered as a result of Smith's abuse.

According to McMurphy, Courtney spoke to the wives of Ohio State coaches, including Urban Meyer's wife Shelley, about the alleged abuse. After previously denying he had knowledge of the allegations from 2015, Meyer shared a statement in which he said he had reported the allegations to the proper officials at Ohio State.

Ohio State suspended Meyer for the first three games of the 2018 season and also suspended athletic director Gene Smith for more than two weeks without pay, ruling the two "failed to take sufficient management action relating to Zach Smith's misconduct and retained an assistant coach who was not performing as an appropriate role model for OSU student-athletes," per USA Today's Kevin Allen and Paul Myerberg.