Ohio State assistant Zach Smith fired amid domestic violence allegations
He’d been on Urban Meyer’s staffs since the Florida days.
Ohio State has announced wide receivers coach Zach Smith’s firing.
A domestic violence civil protection order was filed against Smith on July 20. The order came on the heels of a trespassing charge filed by his ex-wife.
Brett McMurphy, who first reported the order, additionally reported a separate domestic violence claim against Smith during his time on OSU head coach Urban Meyer’s staff at Florida ...
In 2009, when he was a University of Florida assistant, he was arrested for aggravated battery on a pregnant victim, according to a Gainesville Police Department report. Courtney Smith was 8-10 weeks pregnant at the time.
That alleged assault occurred on June 21, 2009 – the Smith’s one-year wedding anniversary. Courtney Smith, however, ultimately decided not to press charges.
The criminal trespassing charge was for dropping their son off at his ex-wife’s house – and not at a pre-arranged public place – which was a violation of an earlier criminal trespass warning. That warning was provided to him on Dec. 19, 2017, according to the criminal complaint.
... as well as an unresolved 2015 case:
[Smith] was arrested Oct. 26, 2015 on felony counts of domestic violence and felonious assault against Courtney Smith.
The report indicates Courtney Smith suffered unspecified injuries and “she has been a victim of sustained physical abuse by (Zach Smith).”
Smith has pled not guilty to the trespassing charge.
“They pick up and drop off like every other divorced family,” Smith’s attorney Bradley Koffel told The Dispatch. “They said, ‘He was told by one of our officers five months ago not to drop off at her apartment.’ I said that’s not enough to override a domestic-court order on where he’s allowed to drop off or pick up his kids. It’s a court order that controls this.”
From before the firing:
To follow up on Brett McMurphy’s reporting...
— Jordan Strack (@JordanStrack) July 23, 2018
I have a source that tells me Zach Smith interviewed for multiple jobs this offseason at Urban’s request.
It would seem that Urban has been trying to get Smith off the staff without firing him. https://t.co/Vb4XYqxbSK
Prior to his hire by Meyer in 2012, Smith worked under Doc Holliday at Marshall and Steve Addazio at Boston College.
Some Buckeye players and Meyer are scheduled to appear at Big Ten Media days in Chicago this Tuesday. Smith is the grandson of former Ohio State head coach Earle Bruce, who was hired after Woody Hayes’ firing in 1978.