Urban Meyer Returns to Ohio State Practices but Will Continue to Sit Out Games
Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer returned to practice Monday as one aspect of his three-week suspension came to an end, allowing him to resume his duties on every day but Saturday until the fourth week of the season.
Interim head coach Ryan Day told ESPN that there was a short staff meeting Monday morning before everyone went their separate ways to begin working.
"Coach came back today, and we had a meeting earlier this morning," Day said. "He's been meeting with some of the players. So things are back to normal. Obviously he won't be there for game day, but everything else is back to normal."
Meyer is in the middle of serving a three-game suspension, which Ohio State issued to the coach on Aug. 22 after its investigation into his handling of former assistant coach Zach Smith, who was arrested on domestic violence charges that were later dropped in 2009 and investigated for domestic violence allegations in 2015. The university determined that Meyer failed to uphold its standards when addressing questions about Smith’s dismissal at Big Ten Media Days in July.
As part of the punishment, Meyer was suspended through Sept. 2, as well as for the first three games of the season without pay. He missed Ohio State's season-opener against Oregon State last Saturday. While Meyer was able to return to practice Monday morning, he cannot coach the Buckeyes in their next two games against Rutgers and TCU. On Saturday morning, a 24-hour period begins during which Meyer cannot be with the team.
Meyer is not expected to speak to the media until his suspension is over.
Players will not practice on Monday, but they attended meetings and a film-study session, reports ESPN. Meyer met with players the day after his suspension was announced but had not seen them since.
Ohio State will play Rutgers at Ohio Stadium on Saturday. The game is slated to start at 3:30 p.m. ET.
