Urban Meyer gets his team set take the field for their matchup for with the Maryland Terrapins Oct. 7, 2017. Credit: Lantern File Photo
Urban Meyer had a simple objective when he took on the head coaching duties at Ohio State.
However, setting a goal and achieving it are two different things. Despite creating lofty goals in his introductory press conference, Meyer would lead a resurgence of the Ohio State football program, but his journey would not be without turbulence.
“Our objective is simple: It’s to make the state of Ohio proud; recruit student‑athletes that will win in the classroom and win on the field,” Meyer said Nov. 28, 2011. “I’m going to go about and try to assemble the best coaching staff in college football. Our goal is to compete and win Big Ten championships.”
In the course of his seven-year career as Ohio State’s head coach, Meyer led the team to an 83-9 record, three Big Ten titles and a national championship when his Buckeyes won the title in inaugural College Football Playoff.
Meyer’s first task involved turning around a 2011 Ohio State team that finished 6-7 — the program’s first losing season since 1988.
He immediately revived the program with a 12-0 finish in his first season at the helm.
Establishing his culture in a year that included a bowl sanction from the NCAA, Meyer said he didn’t believe Ohio State was broken.
“The formula is real simple: Go recruit some really good players that know how to compete, are tough, go surround them with the best coaches in the country, you usually find a way to win a few games,” Meyer said. “That’s the formula we’re going to use here, and we’re going to go really, really hard.”
Graduate linebacker Justin Hilliard, who played four years under Meyer, said the culture implemented by Meyer has lasting effects on Ohio State.
“Coach Meyer in a lot of ways laid the foundation for the culture we have now, and a lot of those things, a lot of his sayings and teachings still are here today, like the 4680 been getting guys — so first when they come on campus, the first emphasis is getting guys to go hard, and that’s still in our culture here today,” Hilliard said Jan. 6.
Although successful, Meyer’s run as head coach of the Buckeyes was not without controversy.
At his final Big Ten Media Day as the Buckeyes head coach, Meyer denied that he had prior knowledge of domestic abuse allegations by his wide receivers coach Zach Smith.
However, reports later indicated that Meyer had known Smith’s allegations along with prior instances of misconduct. Meyer was suspended by Ohio State for three games due to the incident.
Current head coach Ryan Day took over and led the Buckeyes to a 3-0 record upon Meyer’s return to the team.
Throughout the season, Meyer battled a brain cyst that left him with severe headaches and he often appeared to be in physical pain on the sideline during games.
“The decision was a result of cumulative events,” Meyer said Dec. 4. “And health number one. The fact that we have an elite coach on our staff. The fact that our program is very healthy. We’ve recruited very well. [That] all played a significant role in this.”
The legendary Buckeye head coach ended his Ohio State career with a 28-23 victory over Washington in the 2019 Rose Bowl, closing the 2018 season with a 13-1 record.
Meyer now makes the jump to the NFL for the first time in his coaching career, leading a rebuild for the league-worst Jacksonville Jaguars.
“I’ve analyzed this decision from every angle — the time is right in Jacksonville, and the time is right for me to resume coaching,” Meyer said in a statement Thursday.
Initially, Meyer said he would not return to coaching after retiring from coaching at Ohio State.
In the two years away, Meyer taught a class at Ohio State, served as the university’s assistant athletic director and became an analyst at Fox.
Now, he is tasked with building a roster and assembling a staff — one he said will not poach many coaches from the Ohio State staff.
The lone addition would prove to be Ryan Stamper, Ohio State assistant athletic director of player development.
“That’s the best infrastructure in college sports, so no, they will not be leaving. I’m not touching — there might be one, I said, that will leave, but I am not gonna do that to that organization,” Meyer said Jan. 15. “And I’m not sure they would go. Ohio State is home to those guys now.”
