Ohio State University spokesman Chris Davey has confirmed that Texas head coach Tom Herman was the previously unnamed assistant coach who accompanied former Ohio State wide receivers coach Zach Smith to a Florida strip club in May 2014, according to a report from The Columbus Dispatch released Tuesday.
Ohio State released a document stating, "In May 2014, in connection with an out-of-town recruiting trip to Florida, Zach Smith ran up a significant bill at a local strip club along with another OSU football coach and one or more high school coaches." Herman served as Ohio State's offensive coordinator from 2012–2014.
On Aug. 17, college football insider Brett McMurphy reported that Smith had sex with a female staff member in his office at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center in Columbus, Ohio, in addition to ordering sex toys that were delivered to the complex.
McMurphy tweeted five days later that Smith spent $600 at a Florida strip club with an unnamed Ohio State coach during a recruiting trip in May 2014.
Davey’s confirmed today to The Columbus Dispatch that Herman was, in fact, the unnamed assistant coach in McMurphy’s initial report.
Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer was suspended three games for his knowledge and lack of discipline toward Smith for multiple domestic violence allegations in 2015. Meyer was aware of the strip club visit and warned Smith he would be fired if it happened again, according to McMurphy’s tweet.
Smith was fired by Meyer on July 24 after a ruling from an Ohio judge said he was a danger to his family.
A spokesperson from the University of Texas did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report.