OK, so how long before Urban Meyer wins it all at Ohio State?
"Today I speak for all Bulldogs: Best of luck in your new position, ol' buddy." (AP photo)
Knock me over with a sledgehammer: Urban Meyer told the Gainesville Sun that if Ohio State makes an offer, he’ll “have a decision to make.” Let’s take a leap of faith and say that Ohio State will make an offer if it hasn’t already, and that the Urbanator will decide he’d very much like to coach the flagship university of his home state. (Which would mean this latest Meyer retirement-from-coaching will have lasted a year, as opposed to a day.)
With that out of the way, we move to the next question: How long would it take Urban M. to win a national championship at OSU?
Consensus holds that Nick Saban is the best in his business by some distance, but that changes the minute Urban Meyer says yes to the Buckeyes. At worst, Meyer would be co-No. 1 with Saban, and I’m thinking Meyer is a hair better. Let’s face it: The Urbanator went undefeated at Utah.
Each has two national championships, though Saban took his at different schools and his first was one of those bizarro split titles with Southern Cal. Each has proved he can rebuild a program at the drop of a Lee Corso expletive. Each is driven in a way mere mortals are not.
There aren’t many jobs that would be the equal of Florida. Ohio State is among those few. (Texas would be up there, and Alabama, too. But that’s about it.) Ohio State has everything a coach could want — big stadium, rabid fans, tradition, a big-state recruiting base, even a snazzy little fight song. And Meyer admitted before Florida played and whipped Ohio State for the 2006 BCS title that he and his wife know all the arm gestures for “Hang On Sloopy.”
This is a job Meyer can’t refuse, and he won’t. And once ensconced in Columbus, he’ll have his third BCS title in …
Three years. I figure it took him two at Florida, and he’ll need a third to clean up after Tressel and the Tattoos, and then he’ll be the man to end the SEC’s run of consecutive national championships at eight.
By Mark Bradley
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366 comments Add your comment
Urbie
November 22nd, 2011
12:32 pm
First?
Oh, no...
November 22nd, 2011
12:33 pm
Speaking as a Dawg fan, as long as he stays out of the SEC, I wish him luck.
Mark Bradley
November 22nd, 2011
12:33 pm
Kudos, Urbie.
Schweinhund
November 22nd, 2011
12:35 pm
Since we all believe that Urban left UF because of serious health issues and his great love for his family, I’m sure he won’t come out of retirement after just one year. That would make him appear to be less than candid and honest, maybe even a little weird.
BBQ MAN
November 22nd, 2011
12:36 pm
first, at last. you are spot on!
Mike
November 22nd, 2011
12:37 pm
I wish he was still at UF dealing with the mess he made. It would have been nice for the Dawgs to have beaten that smerk off his face this year. Who’s he going to win it with?
bugsquacher
November 22nd, 2011
12:40 pm
GO DAWGS…. BEAT TECH…..
WHO CARES ABOUT URBAN MEYERS…..
bugsquacher
November 22nd, 2011
12:42 pm
LETS TALK ABOUT GOOD OLE HATE….. THE GA VS GA TECH KIND…..
Micheal
November 22nd, 2011
12:44 pm
He will get good players at Ohio State, but the high school talent level in Ohio is not even close to Florida even when you split it between the three schools. He will have to pull speed players out of the South to win a national title. He will win plenty of big 10 games, but he wouldn’t do any better than Tressel did. I know Ohio high school football is big, but just look at the difference between the players that the two state produce. Michigan and Notre Dame have half the four stars in Ohio already committed to them.
The rivals rankings certainly aren’t an exact science, but Ohio has 18 4* players this year and 0 5*’s. Florida has 4 5*’s and 42 4*s and the state is surrounded by states that produce talent. Ohio isn’t.
Ted M
November 22nd, 2011
12:45 pm
6 years
jake dawg
November 22nd, 2011
12:47 pm
He’s a good coach, and a jerk, and I’m just happy he’s gone from sunny Flor-i-duh. He’ll bring in the recruits no problem. Hopefully they’ll find a new place to get their tats.
Neverland
November 22nd, 2011
12:49 pm
Never. He won’t win a NC at OSU. Not as long as SEC plays college football !
Paul in NH
November 22nd, 2011
12:50 pm
@Michael
I agree with you – Urban won’t do any better than Tressel. Tressel won an MNC in his 2nd year at OSU – it will take Meyer 3.
jake dawg
November 22nd, 2011
12:51 pm
No one cares. he’ll show his children its really all about him if he takes it. I’m glad he’s gone from the SEC though.
DiamondJim
November 22nd, 2011
12:52 pm
UGA is glad Urban Meyer is moving on.
Hankie Aron
November 22nd, 2011
12:52 pm
Mark- I love your your enthusiasm as the Urby is a very impressive coach but let’s let him officially accept the job before we opine about how long before he wins a crystal
Hankie Aron
November 22nd, 2011
12:53 pm
Got that right Diamond Jim.
Hankie Aron
November 22nd, 2011
12:54 pm
In retrospect don’t you think that when ESPN was reporting he needed time off because of health and family that we shouldn’t have taken the reporting seriously since he was going to work for ESPN?
Hankie Aron
November 22nd, 2011
12:55 pm
Did Urban cry more crocodile tears when he left Florida or when Tim Tebow left Florida? Inquiring minds want to know.
Restore UGA
November 22nd, 2011
12:56 pm
He left Florida because Tim Tebow left. He knew it wasn’t going to be so easy going forward.
At Ohio State, he will have an easier schedule and the media bias that continually puts Ohio State at #1 without any good reason.
PMC
November 22nd, 2011
12:56 pm
I don’t know. But I’m sure he’ll envoke God when covering up missdeeds of his athletes.
THE Dixie Redcoat Band
November 22nd, 2011
12:58 pm
Well, the BUCS do have one of the better bands in their division.
JB
November 22nd, 2011
12:59 pm
Nope… Meyer was in a perfect storm at Florida with a generational once in a life time type player in Tebow, a ton of Florida D1 talent, a great staff, and a pretty much lesser SEC landscape than today.
His regular season games will be a lot easier up there, like 10 for sure wins every year, so it boils downs to 2 games a year. We’ll see.
Suwannee River Dog
November 22nd, 2011
12:59 pm
Florida? A top job?? Mark, have you been drinking again? The program didn’t even show LIFE for a full 60 years, count ‘em, after the SEC was formed….nothing. The stadium?? Have you never been to that place? Any SEC sports accreditation team would give the place a failing grade on sight. Spurrier and Myer…that’s been it for that team and it’s about to be the low point in Muschamp’s career. PLEASE be more respectful when you speak of big-time college football like Ohio State, Texas, Georgia, Alabama, LSU, and even Auburn, but Florida? Not hardly.
wr29te
November 22nd, 2011
12:59 pm
He quit onUof F when he had a down year and could not work hard to get them back on track He wanted to spend time with this kids so where are they….all over the country at football games and at ESPN…He will quit on Ohio St before he wins a NC
Jason Hatfield
November 22nd, 2011
12:59 pm
Mark – The NCAA still has not responded to the Buckeye’s self-imposed penalties, right? It’s possible they will receive a 1 to 2 year bowl ban and additional scholarship reductions. If that happens, it’ll take longer than you think to turn the ship around.
Shug
November 22nd, 2011
12:59 pm
Meyer’ll win a national title just as soon as he signs Tim Tebow. Me thinks Meyer’s a bit overrated as a coach. Did well at Utah when he had #1 draft pick Alex Smith, and did real well at Florida with Mr. Tebow. Did absolutely nothing at Florida when he didn’t have Tebow.
Also, didn’t Meyer walk out on his team due to “health problems?” Does Ohio State really want this guy.
Delbert D.
November 22nd, 2011
1:00 pm
Meyer has to adjust some attitudes at The Ohio State. A huge factor is his hires of DC and OC.
Hankie Aron
November 22nd, 2011
1:01 pm
Suwanee- As a lifetime Dog fan. Youv’e lost your mind. Florida is a top shelf job
OSU Proud
November 22nd, 2011
1:02 pm
Welcome Urban Meyer! Now, here’s a man who can end SEC dominance and he will recruit the south like a mad man. Get ready to bow down when OSU takes the field…the Urbantor is on board! Go Bucs!!
Hankie Aron
November 22nd, 2011
1:02 pm
And UGA is in the second tier program until we win another nat’l champ and consistently compete for the SEC crown
Delbert D.
November 22nd, 2011
1:03 pm
I’d recommend that Meyer not take the Illinois job. Following Zook there wouldn’t be the plum that Florida was.
Durrty Dogg
November 22nd, 2011
1:04 pm
I can’t understand the infatuation with certain coaches. Saban, Meyer, Spurrier and a few more have had the media enjoying the taste of their backsides for years and year. Saban is a genius. Meyer is the greatest. Spurrier is the smartest. I mean come on. Im sure he will have success. How many coaches at Ohio State havent? Im sure you will mentioned their success but they have also failed on numerous occasions. Saban gets all this credit for being a complete butthole. Just because he says certain things and acts like hes Gods gift to football, you guys go nuts. I wonder what Miami or LSU thinks about him? While you give cool nicknames such as the evil genius to lames like Spurrier, he still couldn’t make it in big boy football (hello Washington!). Him and his “genius” went strait to Carolina where expectations where low and winning anything would make him seem like a football God. He lucked up and caught two of the best programs in the east at down periods and won ONE and Ill say it again, ONE, East title. So spare me when it comes to that blowhard. Now back to Meyer. Florida should be incensed. He left your program in turmoil with a lame excuse about spending time with family. That was a blatant lie the moment he signed with ESPN. Now we are suppose to be on his balls cause he wants to take a job at another major university? Please. We all know head coaches are as good as their assistants. Stop making these guys bigger than the game itself. Their people and they have all made major mistakes. I could less if he wins another game. A quitter is a quitter no matter the school colors.
Eddie
November 22nd, 2011
1:05 pm
Oh, fiction can be fun! Isn’t Notre Dame Urban’s dream job? And, if he does end up in Columbus, he will not win a title there. It takes what he can’t give anymore (note his last season at UF) … and the talent runs too deep in schools outside the Big Ten. They are routinely boat run in BCS games not because of who the coach is, but who is on the field. He can win titles in SEC, not the Big Ten.
Delbert D.
November 22nd, 2011
1:06 pm
Perhaps Meyer could hire Dan Mullen as OC and make him HC-in-waiting.
Micheal
November 22nd, 2011
1:06 pm
@Paul in NH
With the help of a very bad call. Plus Tressel had to cheat to even do as well as he did. So unless Urban wants to go that route….. Ohio State went 34 years between titles. 1968 to 2002 and only then won it on a bad call. They won’t win another for 34 years. Miami had 5 turnovers and still should have won.
GTBob
November 22nd, 2011
1:07 pm
He will win a MNC at Ohio State before Richt will win another SEC championship at UGA.
dawgfan
November 22nd, 2011
1:07 pm
He’ll win a national championship if he doesn’t have to go through the SEC champ to get it. We all know how Ohio State performs with the big boys of the SEC and it has nothing to do with their coach. Its about the guys out on the field. He won’t have the horses that he had at Florida, particularly on defense. That’s what sets the SEC apart from everyone else at that top level.
Having said that, Ohio State is already a nauseating media darling and it will become even worse if Meyer is their coach. Who on earth outside of Michigan and Ohio really cares that much about OSU v. Michigan? Yet every year ESPN Classic runs a big OSU v. Michigan marathon this time of year. YAWN. Who cares. The ESPN machine will get him to the title game by any means necessary so he’ll have that working for him for sure.
Thanks.
Carolina Pete
November 22nd, 2011
1:07 pm
I agree with Suwannee Dog, UF is a 2nd tier job and the road ahead looks bleak for them. Meyer won with Zook’s players. The program will be good as an Olympic sports developer but it’s brief stint as a football school will be proved an asterisk in sports history. The only reason they are where they are is right here in Columbia and he ain’t going back to a school who treated him so bad.
rocketide
November 22nd, 2011
1:08 pm
If he has to play Bama, he will lose. Saban has his number.
Delbert D.
November 22nd, 2011
1:09 pm
Durrty Dogg – What is your opinion on Bill Walsh?
Mike
November 22nd, 2011
1:09 pm
Here’s the thing about both Meyer and Saban…neither one have stuck around long enough to have to replace coaches and have heavy turnover on their teams. Meyer always had Dan Mullen at his side. When Mullen left for Miss St., you could immediately see the offense even with Tebow was not as good. The next year D Coordinator Charlie Strong leaves for Louisville, and the UF Defense has not been the same since. Urban’s only year at UF without Mullen and Strong? 7-5.
Assistant coaching matters as much as head coaching. We have witnessed it first hand with Richt and UGA. The loss of Van Gorder and Neil Calloway was what eventually led to the last two down years. Todd Grantham, new conditioning coach, and new O-line coach are the reasons for the apparent revival.
All that to ask, how much of Urban’s success was due to Dan Mullen being at his side? Will he be able to find an OC and DC that could match what he had at UF? If not, Urban won’t do any better than Rich Rod did at UM.
Testy Reb
November 22nd, 2011
1:09 pm
We’ll take him at Ole Miss!! Come on dooooowwwwwwwn!!
Micheal
November 22nd, 2011
1:10 pm
Unless Urban has Charlie Strong, Tim Tebow or 5 or 6 first round picks on defense, like he had in Leak’s senior year, then he’s not winning an national title.
Bremen Dawg
November 22nd, 2011
1:10 pm
It will take him 3 years to win one, he could win one in two years at UGA.
Delbert D.
November 22nd, 2011
1:11 pm
@Carolina Pete “Meyer won with Zook’s players.” He won a BCS Championship with a misfit to his system at QB.
Durrty Dogg
November 22nd, 2011
1:11 pm
@ Delbert D.: Now we are talking. Bill Walsh did it on every level and was an innovator. Not only that, he has a long history of assistants who have went on to become great themselves. Mr. Walsh (R.I.P) was one of the top 3 football coaches of all time. Book it!
Ian
November 22nd, 2011
1:12 pm
Ohio State has a pipeline in florida already, Urban is an alum and just an overall great fit for the program. I couldn’t be happier to be able to watch a team who is obviously struggling as it is, to get up, dust its shoulders off, and beat the hell outta michigan in the coming years. 3 years is a little optimistic especially since the NCAA decisions haven’t come out yet, but who knows. Urban Meyer will be in scarlet and gray next year. GO BUCKS! and for the UGA fans.. beat Tech.
Mike
November 22nd, 2011
1:12 pm
@Carolina Pete – Meyer’s first NC at UF was with Zook’s players. That was a veteran team and most of the playmakers left after 2006. The Tebow NC team was all Meyer’s players and those incredible first couple of recruiting classes he had.
Time
November 22nd, 2011
1:12 pm
Unless they ditch the whole idea of the BCS, and go back to the days when media types were the sole arbiter of who got to play for the title that continually send frauds like Notre Dame and OSU to the game when they have no business being there, then he will NEVER win a title at OSU.
He might be able to go undefeated there in the regular season, but that will only lead the Buckeyes to being smoked by a far superior SEC champion.