Urban Meyer and Ohio State could be headed for ugly divorce

Winning is an overriding deodorant for any major college program, but a bad loss to Purdue could push Urban Meyer and Ohio State toward an ugly split.

Due to how he handled the domestic violence allegations against former wide receivers coach Zach Smith, Urban Meyer was not on the sidelines for Ohio State’s first three games this season. A 73-8 record over six seasons as Buckeyes’ head coach probably saved him from a firing and removed the possibility of a fight over a dismissal with or without cause that would have come

Meyer continued to talk about how the situation, and did not help the public perception of himself, the Ohio State football program or the university. Due to Nick Bosa being out and some other injuries, the Buckeyes’ defense has shown serious cracks in recent weeks and that was on full display during a 49-20 loss to Purdue last Saturday night.

Now, according to Scott Roussel of Football Scoop, there is friction brewing between Meyer and Ohio State officials. More specifically, friction with athletic director Gene Smith.

"The past few weeks industry sources have mentioned to FootballScoop issues at Ohio State between the football staff and athletics leadership as well as within the program itself,” “Multiple times, the term “friction” has been used to describe issues between Urban Meyer and Gene Smith (and their respective key lieutenants). Within the football program itself, it has been said there is a tension that hasn’t been present in previous years."

Health issues caused Meyer to leave his previous job at Florida, and there’s been a lot of speculation about his health now. During his appearance on The Dan Patrick Show Monday, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit mentioned it.

"He’s not going to talk about it publicly, you know two or three weeks ago he took a knee, he kind of grabbed his head and he said he’s been having headaches. He doesn’t look the way he’s looked since he’s been at Ohio State, where he said, ‘listen, if I’m going to take this job after what I went through at Florida, I’m going to keep my priorities straight, family first, not going to get out of whack."

Any legitimate friction between Meyer and those above him, along with rumored tension within the football program, is new (at least publicly). Meyer hasn’t quite looked the same since coming back from his suspension, with at least one observation he’s not coaching with the same edge.

A bye week seems to be coming at a good time for the Buckeyes. But if things don’t get back on the rails from here on out, starting with a home game against Nebraska on Nov. 3, Meyer and Ohio State might move quickly toward a rather ugly divorce.