Florida Columnist Argues Urban Meyer Wouldn't Be a Good Fit in Columbus
By Jason McIntyre
"The longer Meyer stayed at UF, the less interested he seemed to be in performing any duty that didn’t involve an X, O, or game tape. He once famously grumped about all the “Gator nonsense” that comes with being the head coach at Florida – booster clubs, media responsibilities, and just the 24/7 interest in that football team."
Couldn’t one argue that there’s more media covering the Gators on a daily basis? And didn’t Urban Meyer once covet the Notre Dame job? When you’re talking booster clubs and 24/7 interest, the Irish have to be at or near the top of that list.
"When he’s on his game, Meyer is among the top handful of college coaches in the land. But he also quit the Gators twice in less than a year; the second time, it took. It’s fair to wonder how much commitment he can really make to the meat-grinder that is big-time college football."
By January 2012, Meyer will have been away from coaching for a year. As we’ve written before, when Meyer returns to the sidelines, he isn’t going to just take any college football job. He turns 47 next month and who knows how long it’ll be before one of the few jobs he’d consider – Notre Dame? – opens up again. Will he want to wait a few years? Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t see Meyer popping up at some random school where he has no tangible connection. For some reason though, I could see Meyer ending up at USC (history of the program, Hollywood and the biggest factor: Finishing a job his nemesis Lane Kiffin couldn’t).
"At some point, Meyer will have to explain the 24 arrests the Gators had on his watch. Florida is not the only big-time program with that problem; Ohio State has its share of run-ins with the law, too. But when you’re trying to clean up a program, it’s not a good idea to hire someone whose teams had similar problems to the ones you’re trying to fix."
Uh, no, he won’t. The arrests only mattered to the media and bloggers and schools that are recruiting against the Gators. You think Florida cared? I’m guessing Ohio State – and plenty of other schools – would trade 24 arrests over the course of a few years for a couple titles. Sad, but true.