Urban Meyered in Controversey

It would not be an understatement to say that the landscape of college football change dramatically Tuesday. After a tumultuous season of off-field issues surrounding the alleged domestic violence of the wife of an assistant coach, Urban Meyer retired as the head football coach of Ohio State University.  Based on the evidence that has been made public, it certainly appears as though both Meyers and his wife Shelly knew or had reason to know that Smith may have abused his wife - and both did nothing.  

Regardless of your opinion of how urban Meyer handled the scandal this year at Ohio State, or any other issues that have arisen in his programs of the past, there is no doubt that Urban Meyer is second only to Nick Saban in the college football coaching ranks. While Ohio State fans were angry to lose Jim Tressel, they received an upgrade in the coaching department when Meyer returned to the sidelines after one year in the broadcast booth.  

So what is the impact on Meyer’s departure?  Well it depends on who you ask.  

Ohio State 

Contemporaneous with the announcement that Meyer was retiring was the accounement that Ryan (not Jordan) Day was named as the new head coach with a five-year deal.  Day was the interim coach for the first three games of the season that Meyer served an unpaid suspension for relating to the Zack Smith issue.  Day has been heralded as an up and coming coach, but frankly the hire seems underwhelming.  Yes Tressel was also a bit of an unknown when he arrived in Columbus and ultimately delivered a national championship.  Meyer on the other hand had built a program in Utah and delivered two national championships in Florida.  Apart from the three game stint as interim coach, Day’s handling of a football program entirely on his own has yet to be determined.  

Ultimately there is only one Urban Meyer, and replacing him may be more challenging than the Buckeyes care to admit.

Michigan

It’s not secret that Michigan’s play against the Buckeyes has been abysmal since Jim Tressel arrived in Columbus.  Outside of a lone win in the year between Tressel and Meyer, Michigan has been unable to conquer their biggest rival.  This year’s meeting was billed as the year that Michigan finally turned things around.  The Wolverines arrived in Columbus with a 10-1 record and were looking to head to their first Big Ten Conference title game.  They were favorites and picked by virtually all of the experts (including the College GameDay crew).  Instead Michigan gave up 62 points in an absolute beat down.  

There were no doubt some happy faces in Ann Arbor on Monday when Meyer stepped down.   

Biggest winner from today’s announcement? Jim Harbaugh

— trey wingo (@wingoz) December 4, 2018

Who knows what success Day will have against the Wolverines, but next year the Buckeyes have to travel to Ann Arbor.  While Michigan is going to lose big time players like Patterson and Gary, they are coming off of solid recruiting classes with players waiting in the wings like Dylan McCaffrey at the quarterback spot.  Michigan will be ready to set a new tone against the Buckeyes on November 30, 2019.  

Urban Meyer 

Meyer cited continued health concerns as his reason for stepping away from coach ing.  We’ve seen that movie before when he left Florida with heart related issues.  At some point in the future, Meyer will land on another sideline and with another school and for big $$$.  It might not be next year, but perhap USC in 2020 if Clay Helton is unable to turn things around in LA.  Meyer’s days as a head football coach are not over.