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Ohio State to conclude investigation on coach Urban Meyer on Sunday

Ohio State to conclude investigation on coach Urban Meyer on Sunday
Posted at 5:56 PM, Aug 17, 2018
and last updated 2018-08-17 18:00:20-04

The Ohio State University announced on Friday that its investigation into coach Urban Meyer's handling of domestic violence allegations involving Meyer's assistant coach Zach Smith will conclude on Sunday, as scheduled. 

A six-person review board investigating the matter will then draft a report, which will be discussed at a closed-door meeting of the university's board of trustees. Following the meeting, which will likely take place sometime next week, university president Michael Drake could announce possible sanctions. 

Meyer was placed on paid administrative leave on Aug. 1 after a report published by former ESPN reporter Brett McMurphy claimed Meyer knew that Smith's wife had accused her husband of assaulting her. McMurphy also published photos of the woman which included a number of bruises. Those photos had previously been shared with Meyer's wife Shelley, who is also an employee of Ohio State. 

On Aug. 3, two days after he was suspended by OSU, Meyer released a statement admitting that he had lied to reporters about his knowledge of the allegations but claimed that he had followed proper protocol in reporting the incident to university officials. The alleged incident took place in 2015, while Smith was a wide receiver coach for Ohio State. 

Smith was not charged for the possible incident and did not face any punishment from Ohio State, according to public records obtained by Scripps National.

Smith was fired in July when McMurphy had uncovered that Smith's wife had placed a protection order against her now ex-husband.