First, as a caveat, the following in-depth commentary is admittedly speculative based on the apparent facts that we know at the current time. If new, game-changing "smoking guns" or damning evidence suddenly appears, everything changes. 

If not, then I expect that Urban will be in the clear for following university protocol and acting appropriately and in good conscience, however, his reputation will still be damaged. So how can he best repair it? 

By the way, this presumes that he might wind up with some sort of fine or suspension for his miscommunication on Media Day, but eventually, he'll eventually resume his job as head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team (that's my prediction, anyway).

But not before he conducts a major press conference.

How he handles the latter will be absolutely critical for his future and legacy, the program's future, and the reputation of The University.

To that end, Urban already knows that he was less than fully forthcoming on Media Day, which has gotten him into trouble and which he has smartly owned up to. That was a difficult but wise decision.

He did the hard thing. He did the right thing, and that's all you can do to rectify any wrong. 

So far, so good. 

Beyond that, while I don't think it would serve Meyer well to turn around and basically say, "I really wasn't lying" after having already admitted to being less than fully honest to whatever degree, I do think that when the time is right, and the inevitable big press conference is at hand, he should clearly address exactly what he said on Media Day, as well as why he said it. 

My question is, being as analytical as possible, what's your advice as to what Meyer should say, assuming the facts bear out his current claims? 

Hey, this guy has brought OSU lots of wins, so how would you return the favor and help him "win" the press conference and salvage his reputation as much as possible?

To me, while still being contrite--and definitely not arrogant so as to give the media even more of a motivation and/or ammunition to attack him--Urban Meyer has every right to fully defend himself, and to that end, my advice is that he should say something humble yet strong, as I describe below, but I'd like to hear what others think, and what sort of constructive advice they'd give to Coach Meyer (beyond snarky comments like, "resign now":

"I know you guys are eager to have me explain the unfortunate comments I made on Media Day, and I'm just as eager as you are to do that. I hope to be perfectly clear this time, which is not the same thing as making excuses.

That's one thing I don't want to do.

For example, sure, I could make a fair distinction here between someone who tells an outright lie and someone who fails to make a full disclosure. To that end, I've already admitted that I was guilty of the latter, and that's neither a good thing or acceptable. 

Again, I have no excuses for my poor communication, so I'll make none. At the same time, I know that you still want an explanation, to know, "gee, what the heck was he thinking?" so...

First, while I wasn't lying in a direct or technical or even a legal sense, which I could deconstruct and parse out until the cows come home, this still wouldn't make it right. I'm not looking to get off on a technicality, and I might add, I haven't gotten off without facing some big consequences for it. You didn't let me off the hook, and you shouldn't. That's not your job. At any rate, I've already been hit pretty hard for not making the full disclosure that I should have made in the first place. 

As to why I failed to disclose, as I've explained in my prior statement, this is a sensitive matter, as many human resource matters can be, and I hope people can sincerely appreciate that, although I'm not using it as an excuse. But it did contribute to the rationale for the poor communication decision that I made; secondly, I reported what I knew to the administration, and since it was in their hands, as well as in the hands of law enforcement or the Smiths themselves, I felt that saying too much about the incident would be injecting myself where I shouldn't.

Ironically, I wound up saying too much, anyway, yet not enough, and not the right things. 

Now, some will say that I was passing the buck or looking the other way, but on that score, I'm bound by my employment contract to faithfully follow the university's procedures and policies in such matters, which is taken as the best way forward for everyone involved in the situation.

Personally and professionally, I agree that these are good policies, and they conform to the best practices throughout the nation. I believe this approach exists for many good reasons. 

To me, it makes sense to elevate matters to those who are empowered to handle such situations because they have the expertise and authority to do so, and while I should have let you know that such an escalation occurred on Media Day, I disagree that this reporting procedure should be characterized as "passing the buck."

That said, it's not my job to write your stories, and my poor communication left me vulnerable to that sort of perception and characterization. 

For further clarification, I also knew that there never had been any official arrests or charges in the Smith relationship, so when I said there was "nothing" on Media Day, this is what I was referring to, but frankly, I was being too clever with my language (but not clever enough, as history has proven). In short, again, I was not using clear language that was forthcoming about all that I knew and when I knew it. 

I've already apologized for this, but to reiterate, I sincerely apologize to the Smiths, to the university, to my players, to the fans, and to the media, particularly Brett McMurphy, for my failure to communicate as I should have. I also want to thank Brett for clarifying on his Facebook page that there were no arrests between the Smiths, although there were investigations.

Meanwhile, I also want to make it clear that I refuse to apologize for any of the more sordid allegations I've heard, which I won't detail here, but which, sadly, I've left myself vulnerable to, and for which I only have myself to blame because of a poor decision that I made as a communicator.

Still, saying the wrong thing, which in this case amounted to failing to say the right thing, isn't remotely close to the sort of bad behavior or criminal neglect that some have suggested. I ask that you criticize me as you will for the mistakes I've made, and I can only hope you will try to align yourselves to the fullest extent with the truth. A failure to do exactly that was my mistake on Media Day, and I own it.

Beyond that, I'll take your questions, because I'm sure you have things that you want to ask me, which is your job, and I rightly want to respect that. I've always believed that I can improve as a person and as a coach, and I know that I can do a better job as a communicator, too." 

Again, assuming no more damaging information comes to light, I think if Urban says something like the above (not the same words, of course), he will have put the matter to rest, except for the inevitable haters, and some people will even admire him for surmounting this huge life challenge.  

But what are your thoughts?