Post by ajbuckeye on Aug 11, 2018 23:15:14 GMT
Sounds pretty damning on Courtney Smiths cridibility especially when her own mother backs up Zack Smith
The mother of fired Ohio State wide receivers coach Zach Smith spoke out Thursday afternoon with her own detailed comments about the ongoing situation in Columbus. Lynn Bruce, Smith’s mother and the daughter of iconic Ohio State coach Earle Bruce, broke her silence in an interview given to longtime Ohio State sportswriter Jeff Snook.
Snook, who has written four books on the topic of Ohio State football and graduated from the school with a journalism degree in 1982, used his Facebook page to share Lynn Bruce’s account of what happened between Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer, Smith and her former daughter-in-law Courtney Smith.
Lynn Bruce detailed multiple conversations she claims took place within the family which paint Courtney Smith’s actions in a negative light dating back to 2013. Zach Smith was fired by Ohio State on July 23 following a May 12 charge for criminal trespassing and a civil protection order granted to Courtney Smith on July 20, 2018. Zach Smith pleaded not guilty to the criminal trespassing charge on June 5, but Lynn Bruce alleges that her son was purposely sabotaged by Courtney Smith.
"Lynn Bruce was with Zach and grandson at the time, hosting a party of more than 100 people," Snook wrote in his Facebook post. "(Courtney Smith's) birthday was the following day, May 13. “She was calling and demanding (Zach Smith) bring Cameron (the couple's son) back immediately,” Bruce recalled. “If he didn’t, she said she would call the police and claim he kidnapped him. So he drove him to the clubhouse of where she lived as she had told him to do. She wasn’t there. So then he drove the short distance to her driveway, and planned to drop him off at the edge of the driveway. When he pulled up, she was standing there with a camera, taking pictures.”
Lynn Bruce also alleges that Courtney Smith claimed she would take Zach Smith and Urban Meyer down after as revenge for Zach Smith's infidelity. Lynn Bruce went on to tell Snook that Courtney Smith has become estranged from her own mother, Tina Carano, over the current domestic violence allegations.
“Her own mother is backing Zach in this issue and I am sure that makes her mad,” Lynn Bruce told Snook. “They do not speak anymore."
Lynn Bruce also alleges that Courtney Smith claimed she would take Zach Smith and Urban Meyer down after as revenge for Zach Smith's infidelity. Lynn Bruce went on to tell Snook that Courtney Smith has become estranged from her own mother, Tina Carano, over the current domestic violence allegations.
“Her own mother is backing Zach in this issue and I am sure that makes her mad,” Lynn Bruce told Snook. “They do not speak anymore."
Reached this afternoon, Tina Carano would only communicate via text messages and backed Lynn Bruce’s version.
When asked if she believed her daughter’s claims of physical abuse, she replied, “I believe that Zach was removing himself from an argument and I do not believe he intentionally abused her. I do not believe he actually intentionally swung or punched her … no.”
As far as ever hearing her daughter say she would “take Zach down,” she replied, “Yes.”
And when Meyer’s name was mentioned, she added, “I cannot quote her exact words as I don’t remember them word for word, but something to that extent. This is my daughter and I love her but I do not approve of what she has done and how it was done.”
Meyer was placed on paid administrative leave on Aug. 1 following a report from Brett McMurphy. McMurphy's report, also released on Facebook, included text messages between Courtney Smith and Meyer's wife, Shelley Meyer. Courtney Smith had exchanged photos of injuries allegedly inflicted by Zach Smith with Shelley Meyer. The wife of the Ohio State head coach had even said, "(Zach Smith) scares me," in a text message sent to Courtney Smith. However, Lynn Bruce says that Shelley Meyer's concerns were not completely genuine.
“Shelley is a psych nurse and was trying to appease her and to try to calm her down,” Lynn Bruce told Snook. “The bottom line is my son didn’t abuse her, after all those claims she made. The Powell police know that now and Urban knows that, too. And now, Shelley Meyer knows it, too, despite those previous texts. In recent years, Urban and Shelley really worried about Courtney’s stability. They found out what we knew a long time ago – that she acts crazy, especially when she drinks too much. She would do anything to get back at Zach and they fought more when alcohol was involved. It was common knowledge.
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“And now she has. She got what she wanted. Zach got fired and Urban (is on paid administrative leave and the subject of the investigation) … She is getting exactly what she wanted, having done what she said she would do years ago. This whole mess is horrible … ”
Ohio State appointed an independent working group to investigate how all parties handled the allegations against Zach Smith. In a statement released late Sunday night, Ohio State said that it expected the investigation to be complete within 14 days.
