Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said Tuesday on the Big Ten football coaches' teleconference that Ohio State is "certainly looking into legal action" regarding Brett McMurphy's report on Tuesday morning that former Ohio State wide receivers coach Zach Smith used a racial slur during an altercation with former Ohio State wide receiver Trevon Grimes last September.
After reading the report on Tuesday morning, Meyer said he was "irate" and that his players were "over-the-top irate" about the accusations that Smith used a racial slur and that Meyer was aware of the altercation and did not take action.
"I just don’t know how that’s allowed," Meyer said. "I don’t understand the rules and the laws of the land that say that you can just accuse people of something that did not happen."
Meyer said Ohio State was made aware of the accusation last week and that up to 10 people affiliated with the program were interviewed by Ohio State's administration about the allegations. Every player who spoke with Meyer about the accusation strongly denied that a racial slur was ever used toward Grimes, Meyer said.
"When they came to see me, they were extremely upset that that kind of accusation would be made," Meyer said. "That is absolutely not tolerated and quite honestly, the most preposterous thing I’ve ever heard being involved in college athletics."
Meyer also expressed anger toward McMurphy for questioning the truth behind Grimes' mother, Leah, being diagnosed with cancer, and reiterated that his visit to Grimes and his mother in Florida last October was for the sole purpose of showing support to Grimes and his family during a trying time.
"To see a reporter go after a player and his mother ... I guess I don’t read enough articles, but to call out his mother and list some of the things that has happened in her past, once again, I just don’t quite understand what that’s all about," Meyer said.
"We made a trip to Florida, like we would any player and we have in the past, to go visit a mom that was recently diagnosed with Stage IV cancer," Meyer continued. "Her and her son were in distress, and we went to go spend about five hours with them. Gene was very aware, everybody was aware and it was the right thing to do. We’ve done that kind of thing in the past, and we would do that again to any player that’s in distress and show our support because we love that family so much. And how that became a story, I think they’re trying to say that we made up a story about cancer or something, and once again, I’ve never heard of anything like this before in my life."
