The three dumbest suspensions in Ohio State Football history
By Ryan Stano
Urban Meyer was suspended from the Ohio State football team for lying to the media.
Urban Meyer had one of the most successful stints as head coach of the Ohio State football team in program history. He won a national title in 2014 and ushered in a new era of dominant recruiting. But, his tenure had a rocky end in the 2018 season.
That’s because he was suspended for the first three games of the 2018 season because he lied to the media about his knowledge of the Zach Smith situation. He then retired following the 2018 season, citing a cyst in his brain that was triggered due to stress.
We all know why he actually retired though. He was forced out because of his bungling of the Smith situation. I don’t actually fault Gene Smith for suspending Meyer those three games. What I do fault him for is the reasoning behind the suspension.
Smith suspended him for lying to the media. Coaches do that stuff all the time, it’s what they do. What he should’ve been suspended for was keeping Smith on staff despite knowing what was going on. Smith should’ve just come out and said that at the time.
It was a dumb suspension because of the reasoning, not the actual fact that he got a suspension. The Buckeyes went on to win all three games Meyer was absent under the leadership of Ryan Day. Day took over in 2019 and is trying to win a national title this year.
The final suspension on this list is one of the most famous dumb suspensions in sports history.