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Urban Meyer Says He Followed Protocols on Abuse Claim, Contradicting Earlier Denial

Urban Meyer, the Ohio State football coach, said Friday afternoon that he had “followed proper reporting protocols and procedures” after learning of a 2015 incident in which a longtime assistant, Zach Smith, was accused of domestic abuse.

In an eight-paragraph statement released on Twitter two days after Ohio State placed him on administrative leave pending an investigation, Meyer also said he had failed to be “clear, compassionate and, most of all, completely accurate,” when he said last week that he had just become aware of the incident.

Confronted with questions about the 2015 incident at a news conference for the Big Ten Conference on July 24, Meyer said he had learned of the accusations only the night before.