Zach Smith, an assistant football coach with Ohio State, has had a domestic violence civil protection order filed against him.
Smith, Ohio State’s wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator, was served with the order on Friday, college football reporter Brett McMurphy reported.
Domestic violence civil order filed against Ohio State WR coach Zach Smith by his ex-wife, police told me. In 2009 when at Florida, Smith arrested for aggravated battery on his pregnant wife. Smith has been on Urban Meyer’s staff for 11 seasons at UF & OSU https://t.co/fcxi8GsWQ8
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 23, 2018
The order was filed by Smith’s ex-wife Courtney Smith, and is the latest in a string of domestic violence allegations that date back to 2009, when Smith was arrested for aggravated battery on a pregnant victim. Courtney Smith, who during that incident was 8-10 weeks pregnant, did not press charges in that case, according to McMurphy.
The couple divorced in 2015.
The protection order seems to come in response to an incident last week, when Smith was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespassing after dropping his son off at his ex-wife’s home as opposed to a pre-arranged public space, in violation of an earlier criminal trespass warning. Smith appeared in court last week, and pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The protection order served to Smith will remain for five years unless overturned.
Bradley Koffel, Smith’s attorney, told The Columbus Dispatch that his client was “beside himself” after the charge.
“He didn’t do anything illegal, and now it’s coming out that he’s some sort of wife-beater, trespasser, whatever,” Koffel told The Dispatch.
A spokesperson for Ohio State refused to issue comment on the situation, saying that the school would not discuss the “personnel matter.”
According to McMurphy, Smith has been a member of Urban Meyer’s staff for 11 seasons, with stints at Florida and Ohio State.
