Will Urban Meyer Ever Coach Again?
Is he done? Forever?
Listen, I know these last 11 months have been rough for Urban Meyer. Since January, he has quite the rap sheet. He hired the ex-Iowa strength coach who was put on paid leave for allegedly mistreating his former players. That guy resigned after one day. He signed Tim Tebow. He got fined $100K (and the Jaguars $200K) for violating organized team activity rules. He got his shit kicked in by the Texans in Week 1. He told the Broncos coach that "Every week is like playing Alabama". He lost to the Bengals on Thursday night and then didn't take the team plane home, instead going to his bar to get grinded on by a 25-year old blonde that was not his wife. He had a really awkward apology. He stopped playing James Robinson. He called his assistant coaches losers. And he kicked his kicker. And now he got fired less than one year into a five year contract.
Woof.
This has to go down as the worst head coaching hire in NFL history. And that's coming from a guy who saw Hue Jackson and Freddie Kitchens work up close. But, and I truly mean this, I stand by my Coach.
As a high school senior, I decided to go to Ohio State for college when Jim Tressel was the coach and Terrelle Pryor was the quarterback. National title favorites. And then when I got there, Luke Fickell turned out to be the coach that year and Joe Bauserman was our starting quarterback. We finished 6-7 and lost to Michigan. That's not what I signed up for. It was not fun.
But then we hired Urban Meyer and everything changed. 12-0 his first year. Won the first ever College Football Playoff. And went 7-0 against Michigan. I owe the best times of my life to Urban Meyer, and I will forever be grateful. I was the first person to say going to the NFL was a bad idea, and going to Jacksonville was an even worse idea, but I stood behind him when he did it. And now? I agree that it was time to part ways, and I'll stand behind him in whatever he does next.
Odds are that he finds himself on a pregame show here soon. He was elite at it. Not good, not great, ELITE. And if he wants to make hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more, to live that life then I hope he does that. But if he wants to get back into coaching and at least lose this sour taste in his mouth he's leaving with, I hope he does that too. The question is: does he want another crack at coaching? And even more of a question mark is: does any other team give him another chance?
NFL wise, no way. He's done. But how would a college not want Urban Meyer? Yeah, I understand his last three jobs ended up in flames with Florida, Ohio State, and Jacksonville all facing controversies. But he wins. And he can recruit. And he wins. Someone is going to sign up for that, wouldn't they?
I feel bad that USC and Notre Dame were both open this year and they filled just before he got fired. Urban could've called USC's Athletic Director at 9 am this morning and been named the Head Coach by lunch. Flipped a couple 5-stars by dinner. But now, I don't see where he could go next. I don't want him in the SEC. That won't be good for his heart.
The only things I could see happening that end well for Urban start with Ryan Day going to the NFL. And I personally don't think that's going to happen. But people are asking, would Ohio State take Urban back if that happened? Uhh, they better. Bring him home. Admit that Ohio State handled the situation wrong, and Urban admit that he needs to repair his reputation. Win it all and make the best 30 for 30 of all time. But again, that would never happen, right? However.....what if Ryan Day went to the NFL, Ohio State took Luke Fickell from Cincinnati, and then Urban went home to where he went to college?
Could Urban go back to Cincy if Fickell ever left? Maybe. I think the competitive drive in him needs to redeem himself, so I hope he gets another chance. He's one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, but right now, he's a laughing stock.