While some will say the damage to his reputation -- and that of his beloved university -- took the biggest hit of all, Urban Meyer‘s bank account was damaged as well.
While he was on paid administrative as the investigation into his handling of domestic abuse allegations involving one of his former assistants unfolded, the head coach was suspended Aug. 22 for the first three games of the 2018 season. According to USA Today, Meyer will miss out on $570,507.68 for the time in which he was suspended without pay.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote that Meyer’s “monthly salary -- which includes base pay and money from Ohio State’s media and apparel deals -- was cut to $126,779.49 for September and October, down from $412,033.33 each month.” The coach reportedly agreed to those terms on Sept. 11.
In April of this year, a two-year contract extension for Meyer was approved that will pay him $7.6 million in 2018, which represented a raise of $1.2 million over what he pulled in last year. His $6.4 million salary in 2017 was fourth nationally, behind only Alabama’s Nick Saban ($11.1 million), Clemson’s Dabo Swinney ($8.5 million) and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh ($7 million).
Meyer missed the first three games of the 2018 season, wins over Oregon State, Rutgers and TCU for No. 4 OSU. The past two weeks, Meyer has been permitted to coach the team in practice leading up to the games, but wasn’t permitted to be there on gamedays.
With the suspension ending this week, Meyer will be eligible to be on the sidelines when OSU takes on Tulane in Columbus this Saturday.