Add a little intrigue to the start of Alabama's fall football camp, courtesy of former Ohio State receivers coach Zach Smith.
Alabama coach Nick Saban on Saturday addressed rumors that he offered the former Buckeyes receivers coach a position as Alabama's passing game coordinator/receivers coach sometime in January 2018. While Saban said he did interview Zach Smith, he said he decided to move on to a different candidate after a background check.
"We talk to a lot of coaches about a lot of things, I really never did ever offer this guy a job,” Saban said on Saturday. “We did interview him and he did a nice job in the interview. But it was when we did the background check that we decided there was better opportunity to hire someone else and that’s what we did.”
MORE: Meyer and Smith: A timeline of key events
Saban's response is particularly pointed, considering documents that suggest Meyer had at least some knowledge of the situation between Zach Smith and his ex-wife.
This comes after Ohio State on Friday released 2,000 texts and emails to and from Meyer, all of which related to the school's investigation into his knowledge of the Zach Smith abuse scandal. Meyer, who was suspended for three games of the 2018 season, said in a January 2018 text that Smith had been offered the job at Alabama, and that he suggested he turn it down.
"Zach smith was offered wr/passing game Coord at Alabama. Went there to talk to Saban," Meyer said in the text. "At first thought maybe he should go then decided that all effort I’ve put u to him and it’s Alabama. I told him to stay and he turned it down. Every f— day it’s something. Thx.”
In the end, Zach Smith did stay with Ohio State. Alabama went with Dan Enos and Josh Gattis as its quarterbacks and receivers coach, respectively. Roughly six months later, Brett McMurphy broke a story alleging Zach Smith committed domestic abuse against ex-wife Courtney Smith.
