Meyer continues denial of OSU deal

By Doug Lesmerises

Cleveland Plain Dealer

COLUMBUS

Five years ago, then-Florida football coach Urban Meyer heard “Hang On Sloopy” as part of the musical rotation pumped into practice to help his Gators prepare to face Ohio State in the BCS national championship game.

“Can you imagine that?” Meyer said as he listened to the traditional OSU favorite, the Ashtabula native letting it sink in that he was readying to face the team he had grown up watching.

Now he can imagine not just what it is to face the Buckeyes, but to be one. Sources have confirmed that Meyer will be named Ohio State’s next head coach. Multiple other outlets have reported the understanding also reached between the school and the two-time national championship coach, though Meyer, a former OSU graduate assistant, continues to deny any finalized agreement. No official announcement would come from Ohio State until next week.

“I have not been offered any job nor is there a deal in place,” Meyer, currently an ESPN broadcaster, said in a statement released by the network Wednesday. “I plan on spending Thanksgiving with my family and will not comment on this any further.”

The New York Times reported Wednesday that Meyer needs to speak with his family over Thanksgiving about his future and research potential NCAA sanctions coming against Ohio State before signing a contract. Sources inside and outside Ohio State had said they believe the Buckeyes’ current self-imposed sanctions will satisfy the NCAA, and a bowl ban is very unlikely.

The hiring of Meyer, a two-time national championship coach at age 47, would be among the most significant hires in recent college football history. It’s not often coaches with his resume come back on the market, at least not without an unsuccessful stop in the NFL to take some shine off their accomplishments. In the past 40 years, nine coaches have won national titles at one school and later coached at another. Only fifth-year Alabama coach Nick Saban, who won a title with LSU before going to the Miami Dolphins, would match Meyer’s star quality in the modern era. Saban won another title in his third season with the Crimson Tide.

Questions about Meyer center on his desire to face the long hours and never-ending demands on a head coach. After the 2009 season, he retired, then quickly changed his mind and unretired. Following a final 8-5 season on the sidelines in 2010, he left Florida for good last December after 10 years as a college head coach. He had health concerns and said he wanted to spend more time with his family, which includes his wife, Shelley, and three children.

Meyer believes he has learned some lessons.

“I’ve found that it is possible to have balance between your job and your family,” Meyer recently told the Gainesville (Fla.) Sun, “that there are coaches out there who are doing it.”

Now Ohio State, one of the most successful college football program of the past 100 years, is prepared to be led by a coach with two of the past five national championships.