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OSU and Meyer

Announced that Meyer will be suspended first 3 games of the season.

I haven't seen any details on whether or not Meyer followed the correct protocol in any of his dealings with Smith and the universities he was at. That is a huge variable. If he did report vs did not report is a big deal. There is this though:

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This isn't really to bash OSU or Meyer. The Board of Trustees at OSU had hoped that Meyer would not get suspended at all. Those who promote education and safety and all that is good... what a bunch of crap.

This institution of "college coaching" is broken but schools are afraid to address it because it generates income from tourism, ticket sales, donor base, etc. A great program sees booms in all those areas and applications for admissions. A poor program has the opposite effect. University boards and presidents shut up if the program is making money.

College coaches are given way too much control over their situations. They are millionaires who oversee an athletics sports program and it is bananas to me, with Meyer, that there is even a debate that neither have "cause" for termination. Or, rather, that the school has to consider how much the coach is entitled to if they do fire him.

It's particularly strikes a nerve as I coach football at the high school level. I have to complete about 3-4 hours of online training per year. Guess what is explicitly covered, conduct of coaches, player safety, etc. Guess what happens if I don't follow the rules and guidelines given to me? I am fired from my $3,000 job and entitled to nothing, nor should I be. Yet, a guy like Meyer is given another chance? Do I think he should have been fired? Probably. Institutional control; if one of you coaches making $XXX,000/year can't walk the straight and narrow, see ya. You choose to keep that person around you deserve to go down with the ship.

This guys makes millions to produce an on-field product and is one of the best, if not THE best, at doing that. But, there's zero doubt in my mind had this happened under an interim/unproven coach (think Luke Fickel), that coach would be fired immediately. Meyer wasn't because he is Urban Meyer. That's not Meyer's fault. OSU is to blame but why didn't they fire him? Money. They need to compete and they want to keep the money flowing; keeping Meyer is the best way to preserve that. But what does Meyer owe the school if he leaves them high and dry? $0.00.

We are suspending Tyrelle Pryor 5 games for selling his stuff to make some money, players are routinely suspended for smoking weed, "violation of team rules", hampering their ability to transfer. But a coach, who can't monitor his staff or, worse, turns a blind eye, gets leeway? Unacceptable. I know what the players get for playing but they are held to a higher standard than the person in charge of the whole program and that stinks. I bet Meyer gets paid this whole time too.

All the power belongs to a football coach, and this holds true for many universities around the country (maybe even PSU). Do I want coaching to go away? Coaches to make less money? No. What I want to change is how universities handle themselves with more common sense.

I hope Smith never gets another coaching job again, the fact he had the chance to influence young men is a shame. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I hope the former wife of Smith gets the assistance she needs to get past this and never see that scum again.

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