I can’t say I was shocked to hear that Urban Meyer will he retiring after the Rose Bowl.
The combination of the brain cyst that is not getting better and the Zack Smith situation were too much for Meyer to handle. And for those who know anything about brain cysts, y’all know that one thing that is not good is STRESS. Between Smith and the cyst, Meyer has been mired in massive doses of stress.
Look, I’m not using this post to bash Meyer. I prefer to focus on the facts.
The facts were that he didn’t handle the Smith fiasco as well as he should – and I’m sure deep down he knows that. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: when the media members kept asking Meyer about Smith at Big Ten media days, all he had to do was say, “no comment”. Lying to those reporters was not (and never is) a good look.
Not being forthright with the media added unnecessary stress. Between that and his coaching duties which include game planning, scouting, recruiting and playing part-time psychologist for his players, Meyer has been dealing with a lot.
It’s too bad that Meyer’s time at Ohio State is coming to an end because he had a blind spot for Smith. Keep in mind Smith is the grandson of Meyer’s mentor, Earle Bruce, who gave Meyer his first coaching gig. As we saw here, sometimes having such blind spots can potentially land your ass in hot water down the line.
I don’t think this would adversely affect Meyer’s legacy.
The dude won EVERYWHERE he’s been. Meyer went 17-6 coaching Bowling Green, 22-2 coaching Utah, 65-15 coaching Florida, and 82-9 coaching Ohio State (he went 7-0 vs. Michigan). His career coaching record was 186-32. Oh, he also won three national championships.
In case you are interested in Meyer’s other accomplishments, let us count the ways:
- 2 MW (2003–2004)
- 2 SEC (2006, 2008)
- 3 Big Ten (2014, 2017–2018)
- 3 SEC Eastern Division (2006, 2008–2009)
- 2 Big Ten Leaders Division (2012–2013)
- 5 Big Ten East Division (2014–2018)
- The aforementioned 3 national titles
Only the likes of Nick Saban, Dr. Tom Osborne, and Bear Bryant could rival those accomplishments.
Personally, I don’t think Meyer is done. In fact, I expect him to take the following year off, spend a year broadcasting, and get back into coaching thereafter.
I’ll take it a step further, I expect Meyer to surface somewhere in the NFL. What else does he have to prove on the collegiate level? As we saw earlier, he’s won everywhere he’s been.
Either way, we will not see the last of Urban Meyer…
Categories: college football, college sports
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