To no one's surprise, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer spent the bulk of his news conference at Big Ten Media Day on Wednesday in Chicago talking about discipline.
Meyer was asked 11 questions by the assembled media, and seven were about discipline: discipline of current players, discipline of former players, discipline in his former job at Florida and discipline at Ohio State.
When asked about discipline at Ohio State, Meyer said he and his staff spend an "incredible amount" of time and resources telling players to do the right thing.
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"To have a couple of knuckleheads make some decisions that reflect [on] the entire program, that's not -- I guess it's part of the deal," he said. "It's something that bothers me, bothers our staff."
Meyer said the disciplinary issues during his tenure at Ohio State have cropped up recently.
"In the last 12 months [at Ohio State], we've had three legal issues, and it all happened in three days, I think, three or four days," he said. "And we had two freshmen that have been with us I think just over three weeks make two stupid decisions that were dealt with very firmly. One's been sent home [DT Tim Gardner]. One lost his scholarship [TE Marcus Baugh].
"And it drives you insane that you have to deal with that nonsense."
One recent issue was with senior RB Carlos Hyde, who was suspended indefinitely Monday after he was named as a person of interest in an alleged assault in a Columbus, Ohio, bar early Saturday. It was reported Wednesday that a video of the alleged assault has surfaced and that Hyde did not hit the alleged victim.
Meyer was asked about receiving "good news" about Hyde.
"I didn't receive the good news; I guess I'm not a big social media guy," he said. "We just have to evaluate the facts. And once I evaluate the facts, then we'll make some decisions."
Meyer was asked whether it was fair to hold a head coach responsible when players run afoul of the law.
"The head coach needs a set of standards, needs to direct, guide, mentor, push and direct these guys," he said. "Ultimately, though, every young person -- every person, not young person -- every person is ultimately held accountable for their decisions they make."
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One media member said Meyer seems to get the most criticism of any coach in the nation involving disciplinary issues, and asked Meyer if the criticism bothers him.
"I'm a human so it does," he said. "... In the end you've got to feel in your heart we're doing the right thing; we're in the people business and we have to do what's right by those people.
"There's never been one time that I thought that we did wrong by that person. Now, sometimes I sit back and evaluate that we give too many second chances. That seems to be a big key, and that's something I'm going to continue to evaluate."
He said he treats his player "like they're my own children. ... If one of your children has an issue, you try to educate, correct, discipline and push them in the right direction as hard as you possibly can. When I see some of the situations where some of these players are from, for me to walk away from that player has always been very, very difficult to do."
