Urban Meyer was once the king of the college football world. Coaching the Florida Gators to two national championships, two SEC titles, and several beatdowns of arch-rival UGA, Meyer had it all. After taking a leave of absence in 2011, he took the coveted Ohio State job and continued his run of dominance, winning his third national championship as a head coach in 2014. However, four years since the championship win over Oregon, Meyer faced controversy with an assistant coach being fired for domestic abuse and potentially sweeping it under the rug by not reporting it to Ohio State.

Ohio State assistant coach Zach Smith was caught with a domestic abuse violation against his wife and fired from the team on July 23. For most situations, this was a perfect way to handle the situation. Finding out about the domestic violence and punishing Smith with a firing immediately. However, the domestic violence goes all the way back to 2009 when Smith served on Meyer's staff at Florida. Clearly a mishandle in the situation on Meyer's part to keep Smith on his staff for almost 10 years, which in most cases would get a person in any job fired. It was clear that Meyer knew something with his wife stating she was told by Smith's wife of the allegations, deleted text messages, and emails with information about Smith's accusations attached to them. In an unlikely turn of events, Ohio State held a 14-day investigation and instead of firing Meyer, suspended him for first three games in the 2018 season.

As a long time Georgia football fan, I was appalled by the decision, and not all for the right reasons. From the years 2005-2011, UGA won only one game against Meyer's Gators, and some games weren't even close. Long story short, I very much hate Urban Meyer. He made life miserable for UGA fans every time The World's Largest Cocktail Party was played. It seemed we couldn't get past his spread offense and suffocating defense's year in and year out. One specific memory I have of that rivalry is watching Tim Tebow for two years absolutely wreak havoc on the UGA defense, which was one of the best defenses in the country at the time. I hated playing Florida during those years, it just felt like we were always going to find a way to lose or get embarrassed off the field.

So what would I have done if I was a director at Ohio State? Fired him, plain and simple. A lot of my decision has to do with my UGA fandom, watching Meyer get fired would've been a day to remember for me. Despite this, I believe I have validated reasons to fire Meyer, not just my biased opinion. During the investigation, it was revealed that Meyer falsely stated that he had no knowledge of the situation with text messages, photographs, and documents that make it hard to believe Meyer had 0 knowledge of the situation. With other red flags from Smith coming out during the investigation, including 911 calls, Meyers wife Shelley constant concern for the situation, it seemed Ohio State had enough evidence to go ahead with the firing of Meyer. The biggest piece of evidence lies in Meyer's contract, where it clearly states to report any domestic violence accusations to the higher powers of Ohio State, which was clearly mishandled and never happened. Failure to do so would cause a $38 million buyout of Meyer's contract with Ohio State.

When Ohio State announced the suspension of their football coach instead of a firing or a buyout of his contract, it seemed to me as if Ohio State cares about winning more than doing the right thing. Enough evidence was there to make a clear decision on his future at OSU, but with no future head coach in line for the program and the season starting up in less than a month, OSU decided that their football record holds more value than their ethics. I don't know what was said in the room where the decision was made on Meyer, but I assure you his football record was a big talking point and the guarantee of a new football coach to equal the prestige of Ohio State was in question. Especially considering former OSU coach Jim Tressel, who won a national championship for the Buckeyes in 2003, was fired for what seems a smaller crime now, OSU finally showed their true colors. Tressel was fired from the staff in 2011 after players on his roster were found guilty of buying tattoos in exchange for OSU memorabilia, including their Rose Bowl championship rings. He didn't file a report with the University about the allegations even though he had a clear knowledge of the situation. What's the difference between the two situations? Both guys knew about things their players or staff had done, swept it under the rug and kept quiet about the situation. Both deserved to be fired and they got one out of the two situations correct.

As the suspension came to a close last weekend and Meyer resumed his duties as head coach at Ohio State, I still feel strongly that he should've been released by the university. I hated him while he was coaching Florida. He made the Florida Georgia game a nightmare most years. Even though the hate is not for the right reasons, as he is probably a genuine guy if you were to meet him, it still stings to see a coach that constantly beat Georgia keep his job after a scandal of this magnitude. Plus winning two national championships at Florida doesn't help me create sympathy for him either. Meyer got away from being fired, and hopefully, he has learned his lesson when handling situations like the one with Smith. However, the small amount of respect I have for Meyer is completely gone. I hope Georgia and Ohio State face off sometime this season. We may finally get the chance to conquer an Urban Meyer team, which at that point I would be content that he kept his job.