Ohio State's current situation regarding Urban Meyer seems quite unique, but it's not without very recent precedent.
In 2016, the University of Colorado dealt with a similar case regarding its head coach Mike MacIntyre after the team's safeties coach, Joe Tumpkin, resigned after the season following domestic violence allegations, Cleveland.com points out.
Similar to Meyer's current case, the victim revealed in an interview with Sports Illustrated that she informed MacIntyre of the abuse before the allegations went public.
After the victim informed MacIntyre of the allegations, MacIntyre informed athletic director Rick George of their conversation, according to Sports Illustrated, and confronted Tumpkin, but no disciplinary action was taken and Tumpkin was still allowed to coach in the team's December bowl game.
The victim filed a lawsuit against the University of Colorado officials, claiming they did not properly address her allegations against Tumpkin, but that lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge in July.
From DailyCamera.com:
"Defendants' alleged failure to follow the university's rules and policies did not increase the risk of harm to (Fine) given that, as someone with no affiliation with or connection to the university, she was not within the group of individuals that the policies were designed to protect," Martinez wrote in the ruling, which was issued Wednesday.
He later wrote that "Tumpkin could have engaged in the exact same conduct regardless of his affiliation with the university... The university and (defendants) provided neither access nor cover for Tumpkin's alleged conduct."
None of the officials were fired. MacIntyre and George were ordered to make $100,000 donations to domestic violence awareness and university Chancellor Phil DiStefano was given a 10-day suspension. MacIntyre remains the head coach at Colorado.
This case has many similarities to Ohio State's current situation regarding Meyer, but there are some key differences. In Meyer's case, the victim never claims to have specifically told Meyer about the abuse, but just that she believes he knew about it. And if he did know about the abuse, it's unknown if he reported it to his superiors as MacIntyre did.
Another key difference is that MacIntyre was never placed on administrative leave, as Meyer was on Wednesday. Oftentimes, placing a coach on leave, or removing him from the team is something done shortly before either a resignation or a termination, leading to speculation that Meyer is on his way out at Ohio State.
However, that's not always the case.
Arizona investigated its men's basketball head coach Sean Miller following an ESPN report that Miller discussed paying $100,000 to secure the signing of star forward Deandre Ayton.
While Arizona never formally announced an administrative leave for Miller, though it was suggested that would be the case, Miller did not coach in the team's Feb. 24 game against Oregon while the school investigated the findings.
Ultimately, Miller was reinstated as the head coach just a few days later, and coached the team's March 2 game against Stanford.
While neither of these cases are exactly the same as the one Ohio State currently faces with Meyer, and there are certainly other variables at play, there is some recent precedent for a coach returning under similar circumstances.
We now await what will happen in Meyer's case.
