Urban Meyer Says There's 'No Tension' with AD Gene Smith After Purdue Upset

Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer denied he's experiencing any discord with university athletic director Gene Smith. 

"There's no tension," Meyer said Tuesday, per ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg. "I talk and work with Gene darn near on a daily basis. There's zero tension there."

Meyer's comments come after FootballScoop's Scott Roussel reported there was "friction" behind the scenes between Meyer and Smith.

Both Meyer and Smith received suspensions in August for their failures in handling domestic violence allegations against former assistant coach Zach Smith.

"Although neither Urban Meyer nor Gene Smith condoned or covered up the alleged domestic abuse by Zach Smith, they 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," Ohio State said following its investigation, per ESPN.com's Dan Murphy.

Ohio State suspended Meyer for the first three games of the season, while Smith was suspended without pay for more than two weeks.

The Athletic's Ari Wasserman noted the concern among some Buckeyes fans is that the investigation and subsequent suspension may have changed Meyer's attitude toward the university. Wasserman then downplayed the likelihood of a serious problem between Meyer and Smith.

"Meyer has been asked numerous times about his view of his future with the program, and he's responded that he loves Ohio State and feels as if he still has plenty of time left as coach," he wrote. "Even if there were 'friction' between Meyer and Gene Smith, I'm not sure how you'd quantify that."

Meyer is likely frustrated with Ohio State's 49-20 loss to the Purdue Boilermakers over the weekend. The Buckeyes defense surrendered 539 total yards to Purdue, while Dwayne Haskins attempted a school-record 73 passes.

The result doesn't knock Ohio State out of the College Football Playoff discussion entirely but leaves the team with no margin for error the rest of the way. Meyer will be feeling the pressure of avoiding another season in which the Buckeyes' national title hopes were dashed in part by an embarrassing defeat to an unranked conference foe.