Throughout the history of college football, there have been many great head coaches. Bobby Bowden, Mr. Bear Bryant and Nick Saban are three names that I can automatically rattle off the top of my head. Then, you have Urban Meyer whose resume has been very impressive in his career. There had been rumors that next season would be his last coaching. Instead, that time has come sooner, and he will retire at the end of this season after the Ohio State Buckeyes play in the Rose Bowl against the Washington Huskies.
Whenever I was asked about who my top five coaches were in the country at that moment, Nick Saban always was the first I listed. Urban was always my second. Some would even classify them as “one a and one b”. That’s how good they’ve both been. In his career, Urban Meyer has coached at four different schools (Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State) and he’s been successful at all four. While at Bowling Green, he finished with a 17-6 overall record. In 2003, he took the job to coach the Utah Utes and made them a relevant program. In his two seasons there, the Utes only lost two games and won the Fiesta. In 2005, he was named the head coach of the Florida Gators and under his leadership, they became an instant contender and one of the best teams in the country. He won two national titles with the Gators. We were also introduced to a kid named Tim Tebow. Urban spent six seasons in Gainesville and won 65 games along with the two national titles I mentioned up top. After the 2010 season, he announced his retirement to focus more on his faith and his health. He spent time working with ESPN as an analyst for a year, then got back to coaching and was hired by the Ohio State Buckeyes. In his first season, he led the Buckeyes to a perfect 12-0 record. However, the team was ineligible for postseason play due to NCAA sanctions. The 2014 season was one of the best team performances I’ve seen from his group. He lost Braxton Miller for the year with a shoulder injury, J.T. Barrett broke his ankle, so he had to resort to his third string quarterback named Cardale Jones. They get to the playoffs, upset Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and advance to the national championship that year and win behind a big performance from Ezekiel Elliott. This gave Ohio State their eighth national title in school history and Urban his third. Under Meyer, they’ve won five Big Ten conference championships.
No matter where he’s been, he’s always won. Numbers don’t lie. He’s had many of the teams he’s been the coach of in bowl games. That’s something you can’t take away from him. Ryan Day will be named the head coach of the Buckeyes as Urban’s replacement. Hopefully the Buckeyes can send him out on a good note.
