Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

'Maniacal approach' led Urban Meyer to success, fatigue and the College Football Hall of Fame

When former Florida and Ohio State coach Urban Meyer reflects on his career, he remembers the losses as much as the wins

Mark Long
Saturday 18 January 2025 13:35 EST
Hall of Fame College Football
Hall of Fame College Football (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Urban Meyer told his assistants for years ā€” nearly two decades, actually ā€” that ā€œreflection is a sign of weakness.ā€

ā€œWhen youā€™re looking back, youā€™re not looking forward,ā€ Meyer recalled.

If thatā€™s the case, Meyer has never been weaker. The three-time national-championship-winning coach was chosen as part of the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame class Wednesday and will be formally inducted in Las Vegas in early December.

Meyer reflected on his coaching legacy during a charity event at Steve Spurrierā€™s restaurant in Gainesville on Friday night. Meyer mingled with fans and a few former players ā€” sharing countless stories about his glory days in Gainesville ā€” to raise money for the HBC Foundation, Desire Street Ministries and the Tim Tebow Foundation; his wife Shelley worked as a celebrity bartender pushing Meyer's tequila brand.

Meyer's career includes a 187-32 record over 17 seasons at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State. He won 22 of 24 games at Utah before taking over at Florida, where he won national titles in 2006 and 2008. He landed at Ohio State in 2012, won another championship in Year 3 and went 83-9 over seven seasons with the Buckeyes.

His .853 winning percentage trails only Notre Dame greats Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy in major college football, and itā€™s nearly 50 percentage points higher than former Alabama coach Nick Saban, who will join Meyer in the 2025 class.

ā€œI've got to remind him. He wonā€™t buy it,ā€ Meyer quipped.

When Meyer looks back, the losses stand out more than the wins. It's something heā€™s still trying to come to grips with six years after he coached his final game at Ohio State.

ā€œIā€™m a loss guy. I got to try to get off that,ā€ he said. ā€œThereā€™s been some bad losses that I wish I had back. If you lose a game that you can say, ā€˜You know what, that team was a little better than us.ā€™ But we also had some that youā€™re like, ā€˜Dammit, we want that one again.ā€™ā€

Meyer calls his ā€œmaniacal approachā€ one of the key factors in him becoming one of greatest coaches in college football history.

ā€œTo the point where you donā€™t sleep, you donā€™t eat, you donā€™t act like a human being most of your life because youā€™re so fanatical about making sure everythingā€™s done right,ā€ Meyer said.

He recalled a moment after his first title when he was standing in a tunnel at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona, with his father and his mentor, Earle Bruce, by his side and said, ā€œHoly cow, man. For the rest of my life, I get to do this for fun. We did it.ā€

It didnā€™t work out that way.

ā€œItā€™s one of those good news and bad news things,ā€ Meyer said. ā€œI got good news: you won it all. The bad news is you won it all. You become miserable when youā€™re not playing at that level, and thatā€™s what happened.ā€

Meyer relived his most memorable victory in Gainesville ā€” against Spurrier and South Carolina in 2006 ā€” and his biggest recruiting victory: edging USC for dynamic receiver Percy Harvin before that same season.

ā€œThereā€™s still nothing ever like him that Iā€™ve seen, still to this day,ā€ Meyer said. ā€œI know (Ohio State star receiver) Jeremiah Smith, I get it. Percy Harvin.ā€

Seconds later, Meyer sulked about his most painful recruiting loss: when running back C.J. Spiller spurned his hometown Gators for Clemson that same year.

ā€œTerrible recruiting job on him, 30 miles from here,ā€ Meyer said. ā€œIt wouldnā€™t have been fair if we got him.ā€

Meyer currently works as a college football analyst for Fox Sports ā€” he's picking Ohio State to beat Notre Dame in the title game ā€” and has no plans to return to the sidelines amid the ever-changing landscape of college football that includes paying players for use of their name, image and likeness.

ā€œItā€™s all great, but itā€™s also not for me,ā€ Meyer said. ā€œIā€™m not saying itā€™s bad. Itā€™s just different. ... I worry about when youā€™re 28 years old and youā€™re not running 4.3 anymore, what happens? NIL ā€” I hope they know it ā€” itā€™s going to run out at some point.ā€

Meyer also ruled out returning to college as a general manager; he acknowledged having ā€œa couple opportunities" recently.

ā€œThink of that job: to deal with the high school kidsā€™ agents,ā€ he said, mockingly.

Meyer still regrets the way he left Gainesville ā€” amid health issues and with no succession plan ā€” and would be ā€œhonoredā€ to land in the schoolā€™s ring of honor. He's the only player or coach eligible whoā€™s not already inducted. He believes Spurrier is ā€œswinging behind the scenesā€ to make it happen.

Florida officials had discussed inducting Meyer to open the 2022 season, with the Gators hosting Utah and Meyer expected to be coaching nearby with the Jacksonville Jaguars. But Meyerā€™s NFL tenure ended in scandal after 13 games in 2021, so the timing would have been somewhat awkward.

Now, though, everyone seems to be onboard. Florida can even get him in before heā€™s officially in the College Football Hall of Fame.

ā€œIā€™d be honored to do it,ā€ Meyer said. ā€œI have incredible respect for Florida. Worked our (butts) off. Wish I didnā€™t leave. Thatā€™s one thing I regret for the rest of my life is the way I left. Not in a bad way. I was blown out. I had to take a year off. ā€¦ We worked our tails off to the point where I got ill. I couldnā€™t get out of bed at times. I did the right thing.ā€

Ohio State isnā€™t complaining.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in