I think that 3 games is appropriate, based upon the investigative report.
But I think that the investigative report is, in itself, a whitewash. The investigative report clearly notes that they did not have any texts from Urban Meyer that were older than one year. The investigative report notes that Urban asked how to change the settings on his phone so that texts older than one year were deleted.
The report notes that there were records requests made for e-mails and texts prior to Urban Meyer's change of the settings. This is a public institution--it is subject to Ohio's public records laws--and the fact that Urban Meyer changed his settings to delete old texts after records requests were made most likely violated Ohio's public records laws. Yet the report was only "troubled" by this fact. That is intentional destruction of evidence, and an adverse inference should be drawn from the fact. Yet the report gives him the benefit of the doubt.
The investigative report shows that there is sufficient evidence to believe that Urban Meyer was lying, but ultimately accepts his "pure heart/empty head" defense:
"Second, although it is a close question and we cannot rule out that Coach Meyer was intentionally misleading in his answers, we do not ultimately find that he was. He clearly misspoke and made misstatements, but the reasons that happened are complex. Coach Meyer did not, in our view, deliberately lie."
What seems clear from the report is that Shelley Meyer had enough information to believe that Zach Smith was dangerous and unstable: At 7:35 p.m., Shelley Meyer conveyed, in a text to Coach Meyer, that “I am worried about Zach’s response. He drinks a lot and I am just not sure how stable he will be. Afraid he will do something dangerous. It’s obvious he has anger/rage issues already.” Meyer did not respond to the message.
You cannot reconcile that text with the assertion that Urban and Shelley Meyer disbelieved Courtney Smith.
The report notes that Urban Meyer told Zach Smith that if “you hit her, you are fired.” You don't give that warning unless you believe there is a chance/risk that the he is hitting her.
The report notes all of the troubling facts, then draws the wrong inference from each of them.
OSU, the investigative team, the attorneys retained for the investigation, and Meyer deserve all of the scorn that they will receive from this.
