Jeff Meyer in consideration for Liberty U HC opening

Submitted by ypsituckyboy on

Per various outlets, Michigan basketball assistant Jeff Meyer is in the mix for the Liberty University head coach position. He was the head man at LU for 16 years before being fired in 1997. It's probably worth noting that LU is a private Christian school and would probably be looking for an experienced coach who is also an Evangelical Christian (which Meyer is).

This would be a huge loss for Michigan. Aside from his coaching prowess, Meyer is the probably the best recruiter on Beilein's staff. He was the lead man on many of UM's highly rated recruits, including top 5 player Mitch McGary.

As a preemptive reminder - there is a no politics/religion rule.

 

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Trader Jack

March 22nd, 2015 at 11:46 AM ^

I would love to continue this discussion with you, but am afraid we'd be crossing the "no religion" line and our comments would just be deleted. I'll just say that to say "anyone who truly believes in Jesus as God or Son of God and in the alleged miracles he performed" isn't intelligent is unfounded and not true. I can prove that using logic as well, and would love the opportunity. Again, we're close to the line, but I'd love for you to email me and we can continue to have a discussion.

[email protected]



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Trader Jack

March 22nd, 2015 at 12:08 PM ^

This comment might get deleted, but I feel like since you're describing Christian teachings as "hokus pokus," I'll add that the odds of one man fulfilling 354 specific Old Testament prophecies (including one in Psalm 22 that describes him being crucified 700 years before crucifixion was even invented and states the very dialogue that would take place around him while he was being crucified, and the events that would happen immediately before, during, and after his crucifixion) are astronomical.



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Jon06

March 21st, 2015 at 3:46 PM ^

I guess I'll bite since there's an easy answer.

Why does forcing its biology department to teach young earth creationism make Liberty a fake school?

Because young earth creationism has as much to do with biology as bizarre conspiracy theories have to do with history. Imagine an astronomy department that is required to teach you about the planet Vulcan or a chemistry department that has to teach the caloric theory of heat. There'd be something wrong with a university that housed such departments, because they'd be misleading students about the body of facts established in those sciences and about the theories scientists working in those fields use to explain them. But Liberty's Department of Biology is doing something even worse than teaching outdated and discredited theories. It's teaching a theory that has never been found credible by any community of biologists for purely doctrinal purposes. Since no institution that operates with the express purpose of indoctrinating students can be a real university, Liberty is a fake one. Simple as that.

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Trader Jack

March 21st, 2015 at 4:26 PM ^

If you're comparing Christianity, or Christian-based education to "bizarre conspiracy theories" then you really are pushing it.

Liberty is a Christian school. As such, they teach Young Earth Creationism. If a prospective student wants to learn about evolution, they are able to do that at another school.



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Jon06

March 21st, 2015 at 7:01 PM ^

I don't think you should insult a major world religion by pretending that Christianity involves buying into objectively stupid, provably false pseudo-science, but it'd be kind of out of bounds around here to keep going on about this, so let's drop it.

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DrewGOBLUE

March 21st, 2015 at 2:37 PM ^

The school actually has a natural history museum of some sort, which includes bones from an allosaurus and other dinosaurs. And all these fossils are just a couple thousand years old. Who wouldda thought.

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OccaM

March 21st, 2015 at 2:29 PM ^

I don't think Evangelical Christians feel much shame for anything they espouse through their beliefs... to be honest. 

Good luck to Coach Meyer if he takes the job! 

Didn't the football team recently get out recruited for a player that went to Liberty? lol

 

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Bodogblog

March 21st, 2015 at 4:53 PM ^

nothing. it's totally ok to be a bigot toward most Christians at this particular point in time, if you so choose, to most major institutional entities in America. That wind will eventually blow the other way, and you'll have to readjust and dislike whoever the new guy is they've chosen to point at. Or you could understand that each group has good and bad, you should judge each person on the merits. you know, the shit we learned in kindergarten

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justingoblue

March 21st, 2015 at 10:16 PM ^

Some of the posts here have really gone off the rails, and this seems as good a place as any to post a "knock it off" comment.

For the purposes of this thread, Liberty University could be any mid major program in the country and mentioning it by name is only necessary because Meyer is the former head coach. The issue should be "Meyer might be looking at moving on", not a referendum on religion in higher education. There are plenty of places to have that discussion and MGoBlog isn't one of them.

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Rabbit21

March 22nd, 2015 at 8:53 PM ^

A few points here:

1.  Yes I did and no, I didn't find it that way but I attended the business school and was probably spared most of the silliness.  We are talking about a university that had a prominent communications professor write an article entitled, "It's okay to hate Republicans"

2.  I was pointing out that if you go about trying to cherry pick stories about university behavior you're going to come up with a lot of weird and off-base stuff.  If you lean right most universities can be made to look like full on loony bins pretty easily.  if you lean left places such as Liberty and the military academies can be made to look pretty offensive.  Neither is reflective of reality, just that depending on your political persuasion you're likely to take exception to the way different universities are run due to the prevailing power structures at each place.

3.  I realize the language was inflammatory, meant to use it as a way to point out varying perspectives.

 

 

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bjk

March 21st, 2015 at 7:11 PM ^

Apologies to the one up-vote. The above skirts the edges of a political grievance, which is contra to FAQ statute. See below, there is no FAQ statute contra discussion of religion, although several assert one with religious fervor. It is clearly a perception and perhaps irreversable usage. I would choose to avoid inflammatory comments in general although not all truthful statements are popular. But if you move the argument from religion to politics, there is an actual statute there. Naughty Naughty.

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Rabbit21

March 21st, 2015 at 8:23 PM ^

Not trying to make this about politics, if I it seems that way I apologize.

Just trying to point out that the statements of "Liberty isn't a real university" seemed disrespectful, especially in light of there being countless stories of silliness from a lot of different places.  Glass houses and throwing stones and all that.

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ShruteBeetFarms

March 21st, 2015 at 1:49 PM ^

He was the head coach there for 16 years already. Now they may want to hire him back right? So what are they going to say to him? "Sorry we fired you for forgetting how to coach after 16 years with us, but we're considering hiring you back since the ability to coach has came back to you."

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aiglick

March 21st, 2015 at 2:16 PM ^

If this happens it may be a net loss but it may not. It all depends on the potential replacement. I think losing LaVall if and when that happens may be a bigger deal. Good luck to Meyer if he stays or leaves.

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StephenRKass

March 21st, 2015 at 2:35 PM ^

Some of you might remember an incident several years ago when Tom Crean got in Meyer's face after a Michigan - Indiana game. In the coverage afterwards, I remember reading a great article by Balas at The Wolverine tracing Meyer's coaching history. I did a search, and here it is:

LINK:  Balas article on Jeff Meyer.

There have been some pretty snarky comments here about Liberty and even about Meyer. I pretty much think that Beilein is cut from the same cloth. If you don't care for Jeff Meyer, you probably really don't like Beilein either. My personal thoughts? Both are great coaches, along with LaVell and Bacari. Meyer would be a significant loss, but I wish him well, and am sure we will manage if he moves on.

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StephenRKass

March 21st, 2015 at 4:34 PM ^

The article I linked explicitly mentions that Beilein and Meyer shared many of the same values.

Those who knew them both would have said the two were destined to be friends. They shared the same principles, were men of high integrity with great basketball minds and had too much in common not to be - with only one exception, Beilein was quick to note recently.
"Jeff's more of an American League fan," he quipped. "I'm more a National League guy."

Yes, Beilein is Roman Catholic, Meyer is Evangelical. Having said that, their faith is important to both of them, although neither are very public about this. Their personal faith and values are personal.

My observation is that there is often more in common between a committed Catholic and a devoted Evangelical than there is between a committed Catholic and a Catholic in name only, or a devoted Evangelical and an Evangelical who gives faith lip service.

Beilein and Meyer work well together. The are a so-called "good fit." Both are men of high integrity, of faith and honesty and hard work. I apologize if that wasn't clear in my post.

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umumum

March 21st, 2015 at 4:46 PM ^

I've missed this meme you've pushed before--conflating your obvious religiousity with Beilein's.  The fact that Beilein imay be moral (and personally religious) doesn't mean he brings a religious perspective to the team.   In fact, he clearly does not.  Your thesis in the past has been that Beilein is a good coach and good man because he's religious.  I submit that Beilein is a good coach and man because that is what he is.

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StephenRKass

March 21st, 2015 at 5:05 PM ^

It can be complicated. I don't believe that Beilein ever brings religion into his coaching, although I don't know personally. From what I have heard and seen, he doesn't hide his faith, but it isn't something he forces on the team.

I also don't believe that a coach's faith or lack of faith has a direct correlation to his coaching ability. There are great coaches who have no faith in a higher being of any kind. Conversely, there are terrible coaches who have a strong faith in God. Honestly, Michigan would want the best coach possible, regardless of faith issues.

I also, FTR, don't believe that God is particularly with one team or another because of their faith or lack of faith. Again, I don't see any correlation.

I would agree that Beilein is a good coach and a good man, period. The most I would say is that there may be some correlation between someone of good character and someone of faith. But it isn't a clear causal connection. It gets tricky because there are always hypocrites out there. (those who claim faith, but don't live it out.)

Again, the most I'll say is that I believe Beilein and Meyer are a good fit because both are good men, men of integrity and honesty and humility and hard work. I do think that because of the scandal a few years ago, there was an interest in ethics and integrity when a coaching search was done. I am confident that Beilein may have been the best coach out there in this regard. I don't suspect that Beilein's faith life or lack thereof was a factor when the search was done.

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Gordon

March 21st, 2015 at 2:56 PM ^

How can I say this...Liberty is to sincere Christianity what Dave Brandon is to the University of Michigan. Selling out all sincere goodness for worldly money and power. So to speak.

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Don

March 21st, 2015 at 3:54 PM ^

To say that I share none of Meyer's religious beliefs—or probably those of the entire Michigan staff, for that matter—is an understatement.

Regardless, unless it was the case that Meyer's religious views were somehow interfering with his recruiting or coaching duties —something I doubt very much—his religion shouldn't be a point of discussion or criticism.

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StephenRKass

March 21st, 2015 at 5:25 PM ^

I strongly agree with you. The religious beliefs of any coaches are irrelevant to his (or her) recruiting or coaching duties. Michigan should seek the best coaches possible regardless of their personal belief (or lack thereof) in a higher being of some kind. I'd want a coach to be evaluated in terms of wins and losses and how they reflect on the University.

However, I'll make three observations.

  1. There may sometimes be a loose correlation between religious beliefs and ethical behavior. However, it is not a direct or causal correlation. I do suspect that some of Beiein's ethical choices (and Meyer's) comes out of their religious world view. Beilein and Meyer were formed in a certain way, and that shapes what they do. However, their personal spiritual formation doesn't relate directly to their coaching duties.
  2. Beilein's (and Meyer's) personal spritual beliefs may mean a greater affinity for certain players, and vice versa. I haven't investigated or sleuthed out the spiritual life of the team. Having said that, faith was publicly important for several players, e.g., Jordan Morgan, Trey Burke, and Austin Hatch have all been public about faith issues. That may have helped for some players. Conversely, there are a number of players who are not Christian, which is fine. I don't believe there is proselytization going on.
  3. Every team and every workplace have a certain vibe. It kind of doesn't matter what that vibe is:  the issue is whether a player "fits" or is comfortable. I could believe that even if Beilein and Meyer never preach, never share their faith, never coerce that kind of thing. Still, it seems possible that they could foster a particular climate or environment that would be more comfortable for some than for others.

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Don

March 21st, 2015 at 7:00 PM ^

That's the critical thing to keep in mind.

I suspect that all of us—if we've lived long enough—have known overtly religious people who walk their talk, so to speak, and others who are liars, cheaters, and perverts of the worst sort. Some of the most ethical and moral people I know—who I would trust the lives of my wife and daughter to, in extremis—are non-believers. There are other non-believers I've known who I wouldn't trust any farther than I could throw the piano in our living room.

Don't trust people for what they say—trust them for what they do.

All that aside, I'm curious why Meyer would even consider going back to Liberty. Seems like he'd be taking a step down in competition—hasn't he earned a shot at bigger-time programs?

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