Ohio State students shared a wide variety of reactions when asked Thursday for their thoughts on the university's decision to hand Urban Meyer a three-game suspension.
The answers ranged from being vehemently against the decision to not knowing it happened at all.
Ohio State announced Meyer's suspension late Wednesday night after discussing the outcome of an investigation that explored how Meyer handled domestic violence allegations against former wide receivers coach Zach Smith.
When the news broke around 8:50 p.m., freshman Grant Watson was tuned in.
"(Meyer's) actions, I don't approve of them but I do want him as my coach so I'm kind of bypassing them," Watson said. "But that's also kind of biased."
Isaac Beam and his roommate were also happy that Meyer was remaining with the Buckeyes.
"We were both just relieved that he didn’t get fired for good," Beam said. "Three games without him is a lot better than forever. So we both just kind of high-fived and went along with our day."
When asked about whether or not the university used the correct amount of due diligence in conducting the investigation, Beam said, "I think due diligence is an understatement, they were in that meeting all day long. I also saw a tweet that said they reviewed over 10,000 texts and something like 60,000 emails in the process. I think they more than did enough and made the right decision in giving coach Meyer a three-game suspension."
However, not all students gave their unconditional support to Meyer. Olivia Pflaumer, a sophomore, was with a group of students when she heard about the suspension.
"I was with a group of other OSU students when the first word came out about Urban Meyer and the possible suspension or firing," Pflaumer said. "A lot of us had mixed emotions about what the university should do and were alarmed, upset and confused."
Pflaumer also said she thought that the university was rather quick in making a decision and added, "I believe the decision they made was one to make everyone happy. It's definitely hard to say what the right thing to do was from a professional standpoint, but also morally."
Another student, a female who wished to remain anonymous, admitted she didn't know every detail about Meyer's situation but made a remark about the issue of domestic violence in the current cultural climate across the nation.
"I like that (Meyer) is having to serve some type of penalty," she said. "So it's not like he's getting off without any punishment. But it is an issue in sports, particularly football, when there's violence against women. So I'm glad to see it. It may suck that (Meyer) is being made an example of, but it needs to happen or nothing is going to change."
Ryan Wunsch backed up the claim that, sometimes, domestic violence allegations can be looked at in a nonchalant manner. However, he also said he felt as if Meyer was being treated unfairly.
"Sure, when it comes to domestic abuse, it's a problem. But I think that it's pretty unfair (to Meyer). Sure, (Meyer) knew about it but it's not really his business," Wunsch said.
Wunch's friend, Ryan Rice, had a different perspective.
"My roommate was like yelling at the TV, saying 'Dude, you knew.' Urban struggled answering some of those questions. You know how he's snippy with the press, he couldn't be that way. He was caught off guard. But I think it comes down to how much you ask of the coach. Does he need to be involved in (Zach Smith's) marriage? It does show that Earle Bruce, his mentor, carried a lot of weight with (Meyer). Obviously, it bit him in the ass."
Christal Carstarphen, a sophomore who attended football games last year, voiced her support for the suspended head coach.
"I'm just glad that it's not harsher. I don't really think (Meyer) should've been punished," Carstarphen said. "I don't feel like he necessarily did anything wrong about the situation. The authorities already knew about the situation before he did because (Courtney Smith) had already called the police. They had to do something because it was such a big story. But I was glad they didn't try and do anything harsher than what they did."
Meyer will not be with the team for any of its first three games. However, he will be able to return to practice on Sept. 3, following the Buckeyes' first game against Oregon State.
