Former Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer admitted that a photo of Trayvon Martin was used to implement a "no hoodie" policy with the university's football team.

Meyer, who initially denied the accusation on Sunday to an Ohio State reporter, recanted his statement.

"I didn't know about it until one hour ago, until after talking to [former Buckeyes safety Tyvis Powell]," Meyer said to The Columbus Dispatch on Tuesday. "I wasn't there [in the meeting]. None of the coaches were present. It was a support staffer who was in error and apologized."


When the coach initially denied the use of the photo, he told Jeff Snook, an Ohio State reporter, "We did not and never would show a picture of Trayvon Martin." At the time, he added that the team did, however, have a "no hoodies" policy during team meetings.

"Our team rule was no hats or hoodies or sunglasses of any kind but only in team meetings, just so we could see their eyes and make sure they were paying attention and not asleep," Meyer said.

Former Ohio State defensive back Marcus Williamson detailed the incident in an extensive Twitter thread where he elaborated on how educational institutions mistreat Black student-athletes. In his tweets, he also called out Meyer.

Willamson tweeted that a picture of Martin was used in a PowerPoint by a white team staffer in 2017. 

But sports analyst Shannon Sharpe expressed extreme doubt that Meyer was not aware of the incident.

Powell said the staffer was not aware of the racial tension behind using Martin's photo. He added that the staffer "was truly uneducated on that situation and really didn't have any idea the story behind the image."

In 2012, Martin's death dominated media headlines — George Zimmerman fatally shot Martin, who was wearing a hoodie, after reporting that the young teen looked "suspicious," according to CNN.

Marcus-WilliamsonOhio-State-BuckeyesUrban-Meyer