I do not know if this is the beginning of the end for Urban Meyer as the coach at Ohio State.

But it doesn’t look good.

From his first days at Bowling Green, he has propped up honesty and respecting women as his two most non-negotiable core values.

A bombshell report Wednesday that Meyer — despite his assurance otherwise last week — knew of repeated domestic abuse allegations against former receivers coach Zach Smith suggests he neglected both of them.

If the report is true, Meyer enabled an accused serial wife beater — putting the interests of the school’s golden goose ahead of those of the victim — then lied about it. And in that case, a hypocrite of that order should not be coaching college football.

As it stands, Ohio State placed Meyer on paid administrative leave as it conducts an investigation. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine.

Meyer has built up massive equity in his six-plus seasons in Columbus, running a monster of a program and doing so cleanly. But to carry on, he will need all of it, to say nothing of a compelling explanation.

We need to hear Meyer’s side of the story.

Because, for the moment, little adds up.

At Big Ten media days, after Meyer fired Smith amid a troubling pattern of domestic abuse allegations, he cast himself as a blindsided bystander.

Meyer said he knew about a 2009 incident in which Smith allegedly threw his then-pregnant ex-wife, Courtney Smith, against a wall, but pleaded ignorance to two alleged domestic violence episodes in 2015, going so far as to chide reporters, “I don’t know who creates a story like that.”

Well, the police, for one. The Powell Police Department filed incident reports after twice investigating Smith that fall.

For another, text messages obtained by former ESPN reporter Brett McMurphy indicate Smith’s cretinous act was an open secret inside the football building. “All the (coaches) wives knew,” Courtney Smith told McMurphy.

That included Meyer’s wife, Shelley, with whom Courtney reportedly had this 2015 text exchange:

“Hi Courtney — I think about you very often — how are u and the kids?” Shelley wrote. “I am so sick that you have to suffer with this crap — so young. I am so so sorry.”

“Hey! We are doing well, hanging in there,” Courtney answered. “It’s not your fault. I should have left a long time ago. ... Just want the divorce final so I’m not walking on egg shells anymore.”

“I am with you!” Shelley said. “A lot of women stay hoping it will get better. I don’t blame you! But just want u to be safe. Do you have a restraining order? He scares me.”

When Courtney said she could not secure a protective order, Shelley replied, “Geesh! Even w the pics?” The pics are photos — obtained by McMurphy — that show Courtney bloodied and bruised.

How is it possible Meyer continued to hold up a man repeatedly accused of domestic violence — a man who scared his wife — as an example for his team?

To me, there are two possible scenarios here: Either Meyer the all-powerful CEO is so insulated that nobody felt comfortable approaching him about Courtney’s clarion cries for help. Or Meyer was aware of the 2015 allegations, kept the screw-up Smith around out of fealty to his grandfather, former Ohio State coach Earle Bruce, then covered his tracks.

The first scenario — the plausible deniability defense — is inexcusable. The second is fireable, a betrayal of the university, and, much more important, the victim.

It is fair to note Smith was never charged, which means this is neither a criminal nor an NCAA issue. (Remember, Jim Tressel was fired for lying to NCAA investigators; Meyer may or may not have lied to reporters.)

But just the same, Ohio State is staring at a potential end game it never could have imagined with its superstar coach.

If it is proven Meyer went against everything he preaches, the school may have little choice. 

Contact David Briggs at dbriggs@theblade.com, 419-724-6084, or on Twitter @DBriggsBlade.

First Published August 1, 2018, 8:25 p.m.