FILE - In this April 14, 2018, file photo, Ohio Setate coach Urban Meyer watches the NCAA college football team's spring game in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State has placed Meyer on paid administrative leave... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this April 14, 2018, file photo, Ohio Setate coach Urban Meyer watches the NCAA college football team's spring game in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State has placed Meyer on paid administrative leave while it investigates claims that his wife knew about allegations of abuse against an assistant coach... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this April 14, 2018, file photo, Ohio Setate coach Urban Meyer watches the NCAA college football team's spring game in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State has placed Meyer on paid administrative leave while it investigates claims that his wife knew about allegations of abuse against an assistant coach... (Associated Press) FILE - In this April 14, 2018, file photo, Ohio Setate coach Urban Meyer watches the NCAA college football team's spring game in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State has placed Meyer on paid administrative leave... (Associated Press) 
 
 Urban Meyer's Ohio State program has been one of the best in college football and for the most part has avoided major off-field issues and player behavior problems that tarnished his championship teams at Florida. 
 
 Now Meyer appears to be in jeopardy of losing his job as Buckeyes coach over the handling of a longtime assistant who has been accused of domestic violence. 
 
 Ohio State placed Meyer on paid administrative leave Wednesday while it investigates claims that his wife knew about allegations of abuse against former Buckeyes assistant Zach Smith, who was fired last week. 
 
 Smith's ex-wife, Courtney Smith, told Stadium that she told Shelley Meyer in 2015 that Zach Smith had assaulted her . Courtney Smith provided text messages to former ESPN reporter Brett McMurphy between her and Shelley Meyer about Zach Smith's behavior, and threatening text messages she said were sent to her by Zach Smith. 
 
 "Shelley said she was going to have to tell Urban," Courtney Smith told Stadium. "I said: 'That's fine, you should tell Urban.'" 
 
 Courtney Smith said she did not know if Shelley Meyer told Urban Meyer about the allegations against Zach Smith, who has never been convicted of a crime or charged with assaulting his ex-wife. 
 
 Zach Smith's attorney, Brad Koffel, said in a statement to ESPN on Wednesday: "Once he gets his chance to tell his side of events, don't be surprised when it is corroborated by every police who ever responded to Ms. Smith's calls." 
 
 Ohio State will now look into what Urban Meyer knew and when, and it could determine whether he remains coach of the Buckeyes. 
 
 Meyer is heading into his seventh season at Ohio State, where he is 73-8 with a national title in 2014 and two Big Ten Conference championships. Shelley Meyer is a registered nurse and is employed as an instructor at Ohio State. Both Meyer and his wife could be in violation of Ohio State's Title IX sexual misconduct policy on reporting allegations of domestic violence against university employees. 
 
 Violation of the university's policy could result in Meyer being fired with cause by the university, according to provisions placed in his contract when it was extended by two years in April. The new deal runs through 2022 and increases Meyer's salary to $7.6 million in 2018, with annual six percent raises for the bulk of his compensation. 
 
 Offensive coordinator Ryan Day will serve as acting head coach for the Buckeyes, expected to be one of the top teams in the nation again this season. Ohio State's first preseason practice is scheduled for Friday. The season starts Sept. 1 with a game against Oregon State in Columbus, Ohio. 
 
 Meyer said in a statement he and athletic director Gene Smith agreed that his being on leave was best for the investigation. 
 
 "This allows the team to conduct training camp with minimal distraction. I eagerly look forward to the resolution of this matter," Meyer said. 
 
 Meyer is on the short list of most accomplished coaches in college football history, with three national championships and an .851 winning percentage in 16 seasons at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and now Ohio State, the team he grew up rooting for in Northeast Ohio. 
 
 Meyer won national championships with Florida in 2006 and '08, but his teams also had more than two dozen players get into trouble with the law. He resigned twice at Florida, citing health reasons, first in 2009 season after the Gators lost the Southeastern Conference championship game while trying to repeat as national champs. He changed his mind soon after and coached another season. The Gators went 8-5 in 2010, and after, Meyer stepped down for good. 
 
 Meyer was out of coaching for a season, but was hired by Ohio State in November 2011. The Buckeyes had fired Jim Tressel, another national championship-winning coach, before that season for lying to the NCAA and university of about rules violation committed by some of his players. 
 
 Since returning to coaching, Meyer's program has been one of the most dominant in college football, and his players have mostly stayed out of major trouble. 
 
 Meyer did face some criticism in 2013 for allowing running back Carlos Hyde to return to the team after he was charged with striking a woman in a bar. The case was dropped by police when the woman chose not to pursue charges, but Hyde was suspended three games by Ohio State. 
 
 Zach Smith is the grandson of late Ohio State coach Earle Bruce, who Meyer has long praised as a mentor and one of the most influential people in his life. Smith played for Meyer at Bowling Green and began his coaching career under Meyer in Florida. 
 
 In 2009, Zach Smith was accused of aggravated battery on his then-pregnant wife while he was working for Meyer in Gainesville, Florida. The charge was dropped because of insufficient evidence. 
 
 Meyer hired Smith to join him at Ohio State in 2012, and fired Smith last week after an Ohio court granted a domestic violence protective order to Courtney Smith against her former husband. The firing came on the same day the 2009 allegation against Zach Smith was reported, along with police reports detailing two other accusations Courtney Smith made against Zach Smith in fall of 2015. Charges were never filed in those cases. The Smiths separated in June 2015 and divorced in 2016. 
 
 Zach Smith was charged in May with misdemeanor criminal trespass. He pleaded not guilty, and a hearing is scheduled for Friday. 
 
 At Big Ten media days last week, Meyer said he knew of the incident in 2009 and that he and Shelley Meyer addressed it with the Smiths. He was also asked about the 2015 incident alleged by Courtney Smith. 
 
 "I can't say it didn't happen because I wasn't there," Meyer said. "I was never told about anything and nothing ever came to light. I've never had a conversation about it. I know nothing about it. First I heard about that was last night. No, and I asked some people back at the office to call and say what happened and they came back and said they know nothing about it." 
 
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 More AP college football: https://collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25 ||||| >>PHOTOS: Urban Meyer through the years 
 
 UPDATE @ 6:15 p.m.: Ohio State University has announced that Urban Meyer has been placed on paid administrative leave while the investigation into the domestic violence allegations continues. 
 
 »RELATED: Social media reacts to Meyer news 
 
 Offensive Coordinator Ryan Day will serve as acting head coach, according to the university. 
 
 »RELATED: Who is Ryan Day, the Buckeyes’ acting head coach? 
 
 Meyer is 73-8 in six seasons at Ohio State, including 47-3 in Big Ten play. He led the Buckeyes to the 2014 national championship. 
 
 INITIAL REPORT 
 
 Urban Meyer knew of domestic violence allegations against Zach Smith in 2015, according to a new report by college football insider Brett McMurphy on Wednesday. 
 
 McMurphy reported he obtained text messages sent by Courtney Smith, the ex-wife of Zach Smith, to Shelley Meyer, the wife of the Ohio State Buckeyes coach. 
 
 According to McMurphy, the text messages, an interview with Courtney Smith and other information prove Meyer knew about the allegations against Smith, the wide receivers coach who spent six seasons on Meyer’s staff and was fired on July 23. Meyer’s mentor was late Ohio State coach Earle Bruce, who was Zach Smith’s grandfather. 
 
 At Big Ten Media Days in Chicago in July, Meyer spoke about the 2015 allegations. 
 
 “I got a text late last night something happened in 2015,” Meyer said. “And there was nothing. Once again, there's nothing. Once again, I don't know who creates a story like that.” 
 
 Meyer also said he would have fired Smith in 2015 if he had known about the incidents. 
 
 “I was never told about anything,” he said. “Never anything came to light, never had a conversation about it. So I know nothing about it.” 
 
 Courtney Smith told McMurphy all the coaches’ wives knew of the abuse. She also did an interview with the Stadium network about the situation. In a clip posted Tuesday, she said she told Shelley Meyer about the physical abuse in 2015. 
 
 “Shelley said she was going to have to tell Urban,” Courtney said. “I said, ‘That’s fine. You should tell Urban. We can’t have somebody like this coaching young men.’” 
 
 Courtney told the network Shelley Meyer never told her whether she talked to Urban Meyer. 
 
 “She would reach out to me, ask me how I’m doing, tell me she was worried, if I needed anything she was there,” Courtney said. “When somebody is crying out for help, I believe the coach, the coach’s wife have a duty to do something to help instead of worrying about winning games or who his mentor is and who is family is and trying to protect that. Somebody’s safety and the safety of their children and the environment that they’re in needs to be more important.” ||||| Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer, right, answers questions as athletic director Gene Smith and university President Michael Drake, left, listen during a news conference in Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer, right, answers questions as athletic director Gene Smith and university President Michael Drake, left, listen during a news conference in Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018. Ohio State suspended Meyer on Wednesday for three games for mishandling domestic... (Associated Press) 
 
 COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State suspended coach Urban Meyer for three games on Wednesday night for mishandling repeated professional and behavioral problems of an assistant coach, with investigators finding Meyer protected his protege for years through domestic violence allegations, a drug problem and poor job performance. 
 
 The superstar coach's treatment of his now-fired assistant was also clouded by his abiding devotion to the legacy of former Ohio State coach Earle Bruce, the grandfather of former wide receivers coach Zach Smith and an early coaching mentor for Meyer. 
 
 "I gave Zach Smith the benefit of the doubt," Meyer said. 
 
 The investigation turned up "a pattern of troubling behavior by Zach Smith: promiscuous and embarrassing sexual behavior, drug abuse, truancy, dishonesty, financial irresponsibility, a possible NCAA violation, and a lengthy police investigation into allegations of criminal domestic violence and cybercrimes," according to summary investigative findings released by the university on Wednesday night. 
 
 Meyer knew about at least some of the issues. 
 
 The report and punishment culminated a two-week investigation of how Meyer reacted to allegations that Smith abused his ex-wife, Courtney Smith. Zach Smith was fired last month after she asked a judge for a protective order. 
 
 Courtney Smith alleged her husband shoved her against a wall and put his hands around her neck in 2015. Zach Smith has never been criminally charged with domestic violence. The university put Meyer on paid leave and began investigating after Courtney Smith spoke out publicly, sharing text messages and photos she traded in 2015 with Meyer's wife, Shelley Meyer. Shelley Meyer is a registered nurse and instructor at Ohio State. 
 
 "I followed my heart and not my head," Meyer said, quickly reading a written statement during a news conference after his punishment was announced. "I should have demanded more from him and recognized red flags." 
 
 Investigators said Meyer and athletic director Gene Smith mismanaged Zach Smith's misconduct and kept him even though he was not an appropriate role model for OSU student-athletes. The review found neither Meyer nor Gene Smith condoned or covered up alleged abuse, but raised red flags of their own: 
 
 — Meyer, the athletic director and others throughout Ohio State thought it wasn't their place to do anything about allegations against Zach Smith unless law enforcement took more action like making an arrest or filing charges. Investigators called that a widespread misunderstanding of their reporting obligations. 
 
 — Meyer responded to Courtney Smith coming forward to a reporter by asking one of his staffers about changing the settings on his phone to delete text messages more than a year old. Investigators didn't find older messages on Meyer's phone but couldn't determine whether he deleted them before or after the media report. 
 
 — Meyer and his wife, Shelley, doubted the veracity of Courtney Smith's allegations of violence and abuse. Urban Meyer called the Smith situation a "he said she said" last month in a text with a former player. He also insisted to investigators he met with Courtney Smith after Zach Smith's 2009 arrest and that she recanted her original story to authorities. Courtney Smith told investigators she never met with Meyer or recanted any allegations. 
 
 — In June 2016 at Meyer's urging, Zach Smith was admitted to a drug treatment facility for addiction to an unspecified stimulant prescription drug, the report said, adding that Gene Smith was never told about it. 
 
 — Zach Smith ran up a big strip club bill in 2014 with a high school coach in Florida and spent $600 in personal funds. Meyer reprimanded Zach Smith but didn't report the issue to compliance officers or the athletic director. Investigators said they told the NCAA about the incident. 
 
 Trustees discussed how to punish Meyer in a marathon meeting of more than 12 hours Wednesday while Meyer waited in the building. Athletic director Gene Smith — who is not related to Zach or Courtney Smith — was suspended without pay from Aug. 31 through Sept. 16. 
 
 Both the athletic director and Meyer apologized and said they accepted the punishments, though Meyer said repeatedly that he did not fully know what was happening with the Smiths. 
 
 "I should have been aware of it," Meyer said. 
 
 Meyer said he was not aware of the text messages Courtney Smith sent to his wife. When asked if he had a message for Courtney Smith, Meyer said: "I have a message for everyone involved in this: I'm sorry we're in this situation." 
 
 Meyer, 54, will miss Ohio State's first three games against Oregon State, Rutgers and No. 16 TCU, though he will be allowed to coach practices leading into the Rutgers and TCU games. Co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ryan Day is serving as acting coach while Meyer is absent. 
 
 Meyer insisted as the investigation began he followed proper protocols after learning of the 2015 accusations. But he also acknowledged lying to reporters a week earlier when he said he hadn't heard of the incident until shortly before he fired Zach Smith. 
 
 Investigators found that Meyer was determined to not disclose Zach Smith's issues to the media and went too far in his denials. 
 
 Zach Smith's attorney Brad Koffel said in a statement to USA Today that Meyer, Ohio State and Gene Smith were "collateral damage" for Courtney Smith's desire to seek revenge her ex-husband. 
 
 "Zach Smith married a woman he should not have married," Koffel said. 
 
 Mary Jo White, a former federal prosecutor, led the investigation that cost the university $500,000. She said more than 40 witnesses were interviewed, some several times, and more than 60,000 electronic documents were reviewed. Investigators reviewed 10,000 text messages of Meyer's and text messages and photos provided by Courtney Smith. 
 
 Meyer is heading into his seventh season at Ohio State, where he is 73-8 with a national title in 2014 and two Big Ten Conference championships. 
 
 His contract was extended in April by two years through 2022, increasing Meyer's salary to $7.6 million in 2018 with annual 6 percent raises. Meyer has about $38 million left on his contract. 
 
 In 2009, Zach Smith was accused of aggravated battery on his pregnant wife while he was working a graduate assistant for Meyer at Florida. The charge was dropped because of insufficient evidence. 
 
 The Smiths separated in June 2015 and divorced in 2016. 
 
 Meyer is one of the most accomplished coaches in college football history, with three national championships and a 177-31 record in 16 seasons at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State, the team he grew up rooting for in Northeast Ohio. 
 
 Ohio State began investigating Meyer while also facing three federal lawsuits about its response to allegations of groping, leering and other misconduct by a deceased athletic department doctor who treated wrestlers and other students for two decades. The lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by Dr. Richard Strauss say Ohio State facilitated the abuse by ignoring complaints. 
 
 Since Ohio State announced an independent investigation in April, more than 100 former students have come forward with accounts of sexual misconduct by Strauss. The allegations range from 1979 to 1997 and involve male athletes from 14 sports, as well as his work at the student health center and his off-campus medical office. 
 
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 More AP college football: http://apnews.com/tag/Collegefootball and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25 
 
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 Follow Mitch Stacy at http://twitter.com/mitchstacy
– One of college football's most successful coaches has been placed on paid leave during the investigation of allegations that could result in his firing. Ohio State says it is looking into claims that Urban Meyer was aware in 2015 of domestic violence allegations involving former assistant coach Zach Smith, the New York Times reports. The university announced that Meyer had been placed on leave hours after former ESPN journalist Brett McMurphy published a report on Facebook alleging that Meyer's wife, Shelley, had known in 2015 about two domestic violence incidents involving Smith and his now ex-wife, Courtney Smith. McMurphy said his report was backed up by text messages. "Shelley said she was going to have to tell Urban," Courtney Smith said in an interview, per the Dayton Daily News. "I said, 'That’s fine. You should tell Urban. We can’t have somebody like this coaching young men." Smith was fired last week after a court granted Courtney Smith a domestic violence restraining order. Meyer could lose his $7.6 million-a-year job if he is found to have violated Ohio State's Title IX sexual misconduct policy on reporting domestic violence allegations, the AP reports. In a statement, Meyer said placing him on leave was a good move. "This allows the team to conduct training camp with minimal distraction," he said. "I eagerly look forward to the resolution of this matter."