New Documents Provide Details on Zach Smith's Ohio State Tenure

Ohio State University released more documents from its investigation into former assistant football coach Zach Smith and how officials at the school responded to allegations he abused and was violent toward his then-wife Courtney.

The Columbus Dispatch's Ray Stein reported police responded twice to Smith's residence in the fall of 2015. On their first visit, authorities reported to the scene "for suspicion of domestic violence and felonious assault." The second visit from police involved a report of menacing by stalking.  

The Athletic's Ari Wasserman shared a note from former deputy athletic director Miechelle Willis in which Willis brainstormed how the school should respond to the allegations:

Eleven Warriors provided an exchange between Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer and Jerry Emig, a communications director for the football program. Meyer referenced the 2015 allegations, saying he wasn't aware of the situation:

Stadium Network's Brett McMurphy reported Aug. 22 that Meyer and medical personnel directed Smith to attend drug treatment in June 2016.

On Tuesday, Wasserman shared an anonymous tip sent to Ohio State that said Smith was placed in a treatment program in the summer of 2015. The tipster said Smith "had no intention of completing the program or even taking it seriously," as he left after four days of what was supposed to be a stay of at least 10 days:

Smith was a wide receivers coach for Ohio State prior to his firing in July.

Jen Bulla, who at the time was an administrative services manager for the athletic department, wrote an email to athletic director Gene Smith and director of football operations Brian Voltolini regarding issues the school was experiencing with Smith. His credit card had been declined for trips with private airline NetJets, and he had failed to pay for university-issued phones.

The Athletic's Stewart Mandel shared the email:

McMurphy reported Aug. 1 that Courtney Smith had spoken with Urban Meyer's wife, Shelley, and that Courtney had told Shelley that Zach had been violent. Shelley wrote to Courtney asking if she had gotten a restraining order against Smith and added that Smith "scares me."

Ohio State obtained screenshots of that exchange during the course of its investigation, with The Athletic's Chris Vannini providing them Tuesday:

After initially denying knowledge of the 2015 allegations against Smith, Urban Meyer wrote a statement saying he had reported the details of the allegations to Ohio State officials upon learning of them three years ago.

The university ultimately suspended Meyer for the first three games of the season, as well as suspending Gene Smith without pay from Aug. 31 to Sept. 16.

In announcing its ruling, Ohio State said Meyer and Smith "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.