Civil Protection Order Filed Against Zach Smith, Records Show History of Domestic Violence Allegations

The ex-wife of Ohio State wide receivers coach Zach Smith filed a domestic violence protection order against him Friday, according to a report from Brett McMurphy.

The order, filed with the Delaware, Ohio police department, would go into effect for five years, unless reversed by a judge at an Aug. 3 hearing, and prohibits Smith from being within 500 feet of his ex-wife, Courtney Carano Smith.

The ruling states: "the court finds that (Courtney Smith) is in immediate and present danger of domestic violence and for good cause the following temporary orders are necessary to protect the persons named (Courtney Smith and her children Cameron, 8, and Quinn, 6) in this order from domestic violence.”

The order entered the courts two days after Smith appeared in Delaware Municipal Court on charges of criminal trespassing.

Court and police records detail a history of domestic abuse allegations during and after the marriage.

In 2009, Zach was arrested and charged with felony assault while an assistant coach at the University of Florida after the police were called to the couple's apartment early in the morning of June 21.

The police report from that incident, obtained by Eleven Warriors, states that Zach arrived at their residence with a female co-worker and that Courtney “refused to have the unknown female, who Zach kept referring to as ‘baby,’ spend the night at their residence.”

An altercation ensued with Courtney, three months pregnant at the time, alleging that Zach threw her into the wall of their bedroom. The report states: "a verbal argument took place over the female and questions of infidelity arose. Courtney stated Zach was intoxicated and she took the female to her house. … Courtney stated when she returned to her residence, a heated argument ensued in the upstairs bedroom. Courtney stated she tried to get Zach out of her bed, which he refused and then forcefully grabbed her.”

The officer who filed the report stated "I observed that C. Smith's shirt had been stretched just above her right breast. C Smith's account of the incident was consistent with the redness to Z. Smith's right bicep because she advised that she attempted to hit him while he was picking her up."

"From the statements made on the scene, I determined that Z. Smith was the primary aggressor," the report went on to state.

Zach was handcuffed, and arrested without incident, but Courtney declined to file charges and the case was dropped.

Zach's attorney Brad Koffel took to Columbus radio station 105.7 The Zone on Monday afternoon, saying the accusations against his client are false and that "there was no domestic violence, it was self defense."

"What happened was a situation between these two where he was forced to defend himself," Koffel said. "He restrained her, she calmed down, she called the police, the police came and had a must-arrest policy, he was arrested, he was released."

In 2015, Powell police were called to Courtney's residence with further allegations of domestic abuse. The police report from the October 26 incident, obtained by Eleven Warriors, states "that a domestic incident happened last night at [Courtney's] home and that she has been a victim of sustained physical abuse by the suspect."

Ohio State spokesperson Jerry Emig said in a statement that the university will not comment on Smith at this time.

"We are not going to comment at this time on the situation regarding Zach Smith," Emig said. "This is a personnel matter and we don’t typically discuss such matters publicly. We are continuing to monitor."

Smith is the last remaining member of Urban Meyer's original staff at Ohio State. He's been the team's wide receivers coach since 2012, and has also been the team's recruiting coordinator since 2015.

He is the grandson of former Ohio State head coach Earle Bruce, who died in April at the age of 87.

Before his time in Columbus, Smith previously worked for Meyer at Florida as a quality control coach from 2005-07 and as a graduate assistant in 2008 and 2009. Before that, he was the wide receivers coach and special teams coordinator at Temple in 2011 and the wide receivers coach at Marshall in 2010.