Ohio State To Hire Urban Meyer

Added on Nov 28, 2011 by Scott in

NCAAF

Remember those denials by Urban Meyer last week about accepting the Ohio State coaching job? Yeah, well, those were lies. According to ESPN, Meyer will be announced as the Buckeyes new head football coach at a press conference scheduled for later this afternoon after agreeing to a reported 7-year, $40 million contract.

Meyer stepped down at Florida earlier this year citing health concerns and a desire to spend more time with his family as reasons. Evidently eleven months was all that was needed to reacquaint himself with the wife and kids, and to recover from whatever unspecified illness was affecting him.

The 47-year-old worked as an ESPN analyst this season, but rumors linking him to Ohio State began shortly after Jim Tressel resigned in shame due to the tattoo-for-memorabilia scandal. Interim coach Luke Fikell just concluded a 6-6 campaign that saw the Buckeyes drop their last three Big Ten matchups, including Saturday’s 40-34 loss to hated rival Michigan.

Meyer’s resume speaks for itself. He’s won a pair of BCS titles and compiled an impressive 104-23 career record in ten years at Bowling Green, Utah and Florida. He’s never had a losing season and qualified for eight consecutive bowl game appearances from 2003-2010.

Needless to say, the Buckeyes landed the best candidate available to help return the school the winning ranks. His version of the spread offense is as potent as they come. Quarterbacks Alex Smith and Tim Tebow ran it to perfection and ended up as first-round NFL draft picks.

However, rebuilding the school’s tarnished reputation might be easier said than done. During Meyer’s six-year tenure with the Gators, over 30 players were incarcerated for various criminal activities and several of the infractions went unpunished. That’s not exactly the definition of a “clean” program.

College football is all about conference championships and BCS berths. Urban Meyer can, and likely will, bring both to Ohio State. At what cost remains to be seen.

Source: ESPN.com