Great and honest article about Urban Meyer
"He knew what was coming," a person close to the Florida program said. "He looked at the schedule and knew what we had coming back [as far as talent]. He didn't want to hurt his legacy."
"Meyer will need to hire two outstanding coordinators. His success at Florida started to slip after defensive coordinator Charlie Strong left for Louisville and offensive coordinator Dan Mullen left for Mississippi State."
November 28th, 2011 at 7:55 PM ^
I mean great coaches without great coordinators aren't that great. The RR experiment probably proved that to some extent.
What Meyer does bring in is great recruitment and a good brand value.
November 28th, 2011 at 8:11 PM ^
I keep seeing Mike Stoops mentioned....Stoops is doing some good things at FSU, and he'd do well at OSU as well. But I can't imagine he doesn't have his ears to the ground for another head gig.
November 28th, 2011 at 8:16 PM ^
I think you're confusing Mark and Mike Stoops. Mark Stoops is the DC at Florida State. Mike Stoops -- whose name is the one connected to Ohio State -- was fired by Arizona last month and is currently out of work.
Side note: Mike Stoops' defenses were awful at Arizona the last few years. There's definitely some GERG similarity there, which makes me question Meyer's supposed desire to bring him in.
November 28th, 2011 at 8:19 PM ^
Oops, you're right. True enough. In that case, Mike Stoops uber alles.
November 28th, 2011 at 8:22 PM ^
Mark is the guy at Florida State, and he's an amazing coordinator.
Mike Stoops was "co-defensive coordinator" (didn't know that was a job) at Oklahoma under his brother Bob for awhile, and by all appearances, he didn't have a lot to do with their success. He's better known for flaming out spectacularly as head coach at Arizona and yelling at his own players and generally whining a lot. No temperament for coaching at all.
November 28th, 2011 at 10:50 PM ^
Greg Mattison, apparently the greatest coach ever, was the co-defensive coordinator at Florida.
November 28th, 2011 at 8:25 PM ^
November 28th, 2011 at 9:33 PM ^
Didn't Florida have the #1 recruiting class like 2 years ago? Where are those guys? What's all this cubbard is bare stuff?
November 28th, 2011 at 10:42 PM ^
Jail.
November 28th, 2011 at 10:55 PM ^
and didn't like what I saw."
Urban's been gazing at himself in the mirror too long.
November 28th, 2011 at 11:11 PM ^
The front 7 consists of 5 dudes with 5-Stars. Only GERG could turn that cupboard bare.
November 28th, 2011 at 11:11 PM ^
Nobody has yet stated the obvious - Mattison has worked with Meyer. For three years.
Mattison knows him. He knows how he coaches. He knows how he gameplans. He knows how he psychs his kids up. He knows how he recruits (and Mattison is better at it).
And yes, Meyer knows all this about Mattison, but it certainly seems that Meyer is nothing without great coordinators, whereas Mattison is a great DC no matter where he goes.
I don't know how valuable insider info might be in this case, but I feel perfectly confident and comfortable knowing that Mattison has been in Urban's inner circle.
The New Ten Year War (or maybe 5 Year War when Urban bugs out). Bring it on.
November 28th, 2011 at 11:49 PM ^
Actually, I have already stated it at least twice this week. I also noted that Mattison was able to help ND beat Michigan more than once with inferior personnel because of his knowledge of LC's offense.
November 29th, 2011 at 7:17 AM ^
What knowledge would that be? Zone left, zone left, incomplete, punt?
November 29th, 2011 at 7:21 AM ^
Run Run Pass Punt
November 28th, 2011 at 10:46 PM ^
Actually in his tenure of coaching, the only team that fielded all players that he recruited was his last year at Florida...I believe they were 8-5. Is he that good of a recruiter? Time will tell. He never stayed around long enough to show a full rotation of development with his own players at his first two schools.
November 28th, 2011 at 7:56 PM ^
Can't say I honestly agree with the article, but all of this bad publicity is great for Michigan.
November 28th, 2011 at 8:02 PM ^
makes you disagree?
Granted, Meyer has been a winner at everywhere that he's been, but he definitely rode Tim Tebow to amass most of the "big ticket items" on his head coaching resume. As well, Florida was CERTAINLY a disaster last year; Muschamp's inheritance of talent was sub-par.
In addition, the behavioral problems of teams coached by Meyer (almost 2 dozen Gators arrested over his tenure with highlights like using a dead girl's credit card, assault, etc.) are pretty stark. Those kinds of shenanigans will be acceptable in Columbus, too, but for a school that is very much on notice by the NCAA, I'm not sure he's the best fellow to clean things up.
He is certainly a good coach, but I definitely think OSU overestimates the coach they are getting; he is not the Urban Meyer of 2006 with a hall-of-fame QB and a program unburdened by NCAA sanctions. Time will tell.
November 28th, 2011 at 8:15 PM ^
He's also responsible for recruiting Tebow, and he got a hell of a lot of mileage out of him. I don't believe that every coach would have gotten as much out of Tebow as Meyer did. Sure he relied on Tebow a ton, but isn't that kinda that point? Every coach has their star players ... Where would Carr have been without Woodson? RichRod without Pat White/Steve Slaton?
November 28th, 2011 at 8:23 PM ^
Mattison was the main guy who recruited Tebow.
November 28th, 2011 at 8:25 PM ^
The thing with recruiting Tebow is that, and Urban has said this, is that the main recruiter was our own Greg Mattison. Meyer called him (Greg) the beat recruiter he's worked with.
November 28th, 2011 at 8:25 PM ^
It was Mattison who recruited Tebow.........
November 28th, 2011 at 8:15 PM ^
I think the "health problems"/"family time" reason for Meyer leaving was legit. He has spent some time off, and in his own words he has seen how other coaches do it and is willing to try it again without taxing himself too much. You can't just look at a coach leaving when talent is going and say that was the reason why he left (the same thing could be said of Lloyd in that case). And what's the point of saying "he's nothing without his coordinators"? Havent we all agreed that one of the best parts of the Hoke hire was his ability to get great coordinators?
Also, about the behavioral problems: it certainly was a problem at Florida, and some of that is on the HC, but he was very strict when it came to disciplining those players. Best case scenario would have been nobody gets in trouble with the law, but when they did they were often kicked off the team.
You could certainly make the argument that he is an overrated coach; his last two stops before Florida have done fine without him, and he was lucky enough to get Tebow (recruited by Mattison, btw), but this article is dumb. If it were written about Hoke we would all be upset about it and you know it.
November 28th, 2011 at 8:34 PM ^
you wrote: "He has spent some time off, and in his own words he has seen how other coaches do it and is willing to try it again without taxing himself too much."
this is some kind of joke right? you think OSU is going to pay a guy 6-7 million a year to take it easy? this isn't howard schnellenberger at Fla Atlantic. this is fricken OSU. he better go all out immediately or the fans/admin will be all over him. ask earle bruce.
November 28th, 2011 at 8:43 PM ^
I believe that he thinks he has found a way to tweak his coaching formula to allow for good health. We'll see if it works for him. Regardless, my main point stands.
November 28th, 2011 at 10:46 PM ^
you think urban went into the interview with the AD and Prez and said, "hey guys, i'm willing to come here for 2-3 times more money than i was making at Fla, but i'm not going to put in the time i did there, for my health's sake".
and then OSU said, sure urban, take it easy. we just want you here.
it's certainly possible, but i highly doubt it.
November 29th, 2011 at 10:53 AM ^
I believe his last year at Florida he could'nt figure out why his team sucked that caused him to over work himself. I don't believe Urban put in 20 hour days at Florida besides his last year or 2 after losing Dan Mullen. He saw his coaching staff as subpar after Mullen and strong left and decided the easiest out of florida was to just retire instead of canning most of his staff.
The strangest thing about some of the rumors on Mike Stoops is the reports of fickell staying on board. I don't know may they'll be co-defensive coordinators
November 29th, 2011 at 7:50 AM ^
Add to this the fact that he starts with his wife and kids on his back. Notice, though, that Meyer called the OSU his "real" contract. The pink paper family contract was not the "real" one. I don't wish the man or his family ill or anything, but this could be an epic meltdown at tsio. Put it this way: which would you rather have, an up-and-comer who is all-in and who has complete family support or a guy who has already secured his reputation, has questions about his ability to be committed, and whose family support is worse than shaky? In other words, give me Hoke over Meyer big time.
November 29th, 2011 at 8:48 AM ^
hiring great coordinators, delegating, and managing you balance. (Brady Hoke seems like a good example here.)
I relate to how easy it is to get farther and farther out of balance over time, and then wake up one day and realize whoa, I need to take some time off and regroup. Especially if it is your youngest child's senior year in high school, and you've missed a bunch of their childhood. (If you throw in the internet rumors about a possible affair, this even adds to the step back and get your priorities in order scenario.)
Now it is a year later, his daughter is headed off to school, and he has had a chance to step back and figure out what he wants to do differently.
I suspect there are many of us, who would like to be in the financial and career position to take a one year sabbatical, and be able to step back into our game once we have had a chance to reset without significant consequence.
November 28th, 2011 at 8:42 PM ^
The part about being nothing without coordinators is that rumor is he's going to hire some less-than-spectacular coordinators. If that's the case, then he's not that scary.
November 28th, 2011 at 11:27 PM ^
Orson over at EDSBS used to joke about how ... 'understanding' Meyer was when his stars got into trouble (and if you're not familiar, he's an enormous Gators fan.)
So where the hell are you getting the notion that Meyer was "very strict about disciplining those players"?
November 28th, 2011 at 7:56 PM ^
How did Tressel put it? something about snake oil something or other...from ESPN.com articles dated Nov. 24...
Contacted Wednesday by ESPN, Meyer, who coached Florida to two national championships, denied that he had a deal with Ohio State.
"I have not been offered any job nor is there a deal in place," Meyer said in a statement. "I plan on spending Thanksgiving with my family and will not comment on this any further."
so wow...if he's really telling the Tressel...I mean truth....they threw together an offer DAMN quick...wow...because....all he had to say is, I have no comment on the issue at this time. ohio Has a football game to prepare for and that's most important at this time...instead of well shucks I don't know nothin...or at least that's how I see it. He's always been slimy...good fit for their program. He and Jimmy sweaters probably play euchre together.
November 28th, 2011 at 7:59 PM ^
Still doesn't answer my question....does he enjoy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or what?
November 28th, 2011 at 7:59 PM ^
My favorite quote is "I don't think Ohio State is broke." A reflection of Ohio State education. They have millions and just paid Tressel a hell of an exit fee. Of course Ohio State isn't broke.
November 28th, 2011 at 8:01 PM ^
Like Hoke would never make a small mistake like that.
November 28th, 2011 at 8:03 PM ^
He said there was no deal in place and ......awww screw it. He lied his ass off. Not unexpected, just my gut feeling but he has always came off as slimy. All the articles are right. Urban and Ohio are perfect for each other.
November 29th, 2011 at 8:58 AM ^
everybody knows the coach hiring process speak code. "Brady Hoke was the only person I offered the job to" = "Our people discussed offering the job in round about terms with Jim Harbaugh, but in the end it he decided to stay in Palo Alto and coach in the NFL." i.e., they would have offered the job, only if he would have take the job.
In this case Ohio State had not officially offered the job, but their people had reached that point of an outlined deal that would lead to an offer.
This allows all sides (hiring school, coaching candidate, ultimate coaching hire) to save face until it is a done deal, and in some cases, one side to renegotiate their contracts for their current jobs.
(All this in contrast to the Bill Martin coach search technique.)
November 28th, 2011 at 8:03 PM ^
That is a breath of fresh air amid the general media halitosis reacting to the hire. I read somewhere last week (sorry, can't remember where) that Meyer said his biggest problem at Florida was having his coordinators poached. He blamed that for his health problems, saying he couldn't delegate. So in the negotiations with Ohio he was demanding very high salaries for coordinators. It'll be interesting to see who he gets and how much they get paid.
November 28th, 2011 at 8:29 PM ^
finally someone in the mainstreet media reported what i was thinking about the meyer situation. his QBs af florida sucked, as the article points out all 3 did, and he didn't want to endure at least 3 years of sucktitude. so he quit.
ya, i'm sure he got all the quality familty time he needed this past year. what BS.
now, he goes to OSU with a huge pay raise. ya, they may face sanctions, but even so, they will probably reign in top 3-4 recuiting classes in the BIG the next couple years. and he already has a young QB to run his style of offense.
November 28th, 2011 at 9:30 PM ^
Salaries won't matter much. If you're a good coordinator at the B1G level, you go onto a HC position where you will almost always make more anyway. But the prestige and control over your own program is really what drives these kind of people to an HC position. It is very rare that you get a Tom Bradley or whatever the Iowa's guy's name is that has been there for like 10 years. Only if they want to be a coach in waiting will they probably stay.
November 28th, 2011 at 8:04 PM ^
I'm just going to relax tonight and not start any urban Meyer threads.
November 28th, 2011 at 8:31 PM ^
It's probably already been said in a roundabout way on the boards (the Urban Meyer threads are merging into incomprehensible, formless beings unto themselves), but this is an image move for Ohio if anything. He brings the potential of good hires at coordinator positions (not to say he'll get them, but his name has weight), a reaosnably clean image (by Ohio standards) and the potential of good recruiting. He can fill what is essentially a vacuum. If it is a short-term move, he could probably set it up so a future hire can simply maintain the ship if not improve it.
November 28th, 2011 at 10:52 PM ^
Meyer does not have a clean image. The arrests at Florida were out of control and he is seen as a huge liar in many circles.
November 28th, 2011 at 8:26 PM ^
Man, I don't have any problem with how this coaching search was handled. Quite frankly, when Urban said he hadn't signed anything, he was probably telling the truth, technically. That's how those things usually go.
I don't think his success is as foregone of a conclusion as people believe. Certainly, he comes in to a fanbase with ridiculously high expectations after Tressel. Some people thought Nebraska was poised to dominate the B1G, or that Wisconsin would just roll over everyone, or that Rich Rod would peanut butter jelly time everyone into oblivion. Watching bowl games lately, beating B1G schools seems so easy. But it's not.
I've seen rumors that Urban is thinking about hiring Mike Stoops. An offensive spread guru at a B1G school hiring a recently fired head coach whose team turned into a tire fire? I think I've seen this movie before...
November 28th, 2011 at 8:58 PM ^
whose defenses took an unexpected turn for the worse just before they arrived, and
will be operating with fewer than the NCAA maximum scholarships (one through attrition, one through sanctions), and
who inherit very, young o-lines that may or may not be that talented or a good fit for the new offense, and
who have the next great freshman QB ready to explode...only to transfer before spring practice....ok, maybe not this one.
November 28th, 2011 at 8:28 PM ^
I think he is a perfect fit. He brings an "image" just like Tressel did. I think his image is about as genuine as Tressel's so a perfect fit. The quote about his retirement comments ringing holow is accurate. He'll have some good teams, probably even great, but he has no substance and karma will catch up in my opinion.
November 28th, 2011 at 8:29 PM ^
Knowing whay we know about Meyer and football coaches in general do you really think he would leave Florida because of a lack of talent? This is just stupid and lazy reporting.
He had monster recruiting classes and if those guys weren't panning out he could just go and get new ones. He lived in the recruiting top 5.
Many of the most successful coaches have been afraid and shy away from top competition, no not really.
Why is everything a tinfoil hat situation?
Meyer is a workaholic, type A, perfectionist , control freak and drama queen. He got burnt out, thought he could change his life and then realized taking walks with his wife and watching girls volleyball were really fucking boring so he's back. Pretty simple really.
November 29th, 2011 at 1:02 AM ^
Problem is, a year off is what Florida offered him and he neglected to take it. This only adds to his image as a flake who has no idea what he wants.
November 29th, 2011 at 1:09 AM ^
Agreed.
November 29th, 2011 at 9:11 AM ^
because he was FORCED to after getting caught having a affair with a 24yo GA
then abruptly resigning..
that and the NCAA was sniffing around Gainseville due to the Cam Newton Scandal..Lets all remember he went to Florida FIRST..How miuch did that set UF back?