Urban becoming the next Farve

[farmer]

By Peter Schrager


It’s Ohio State-Michigan week, but you’d never know it from watching ESPN or reading the commentary on Twitter. For the first time in five years, the greatest rivalry in college athletics actually matters, but Saturday’s game has unfortunately taken a backseat to a middle aged man who’s not even involved.

Urban Meyer is the New Favre. All that's missing are the Wrangler jeans and the cell phone pictures.

URBAN MYTH
Even if the reports are true, success for Meyer is no guarantee.

The fact that Meyer’s stolen every headline surrounding this game with his tired “Will he or won’t he?” act (yet, again) is unfair to the kids at Michigan, unfair to the kids at Ohio State, and disrespectful to the 108-year rivalry, itself.

This is a familiar gameplan for Meyer.

Back in 2009, with seniors Tim Tebow, Ryan Stamper, Riley Cooper, Brandon Spikes all preparing to play in their final collegiate game, Meyer stole every headline and all the media attention from that year’s Sugar Bowl by retiring, then un-retiring, then nobly mustering up enough energy to coach the Gators to a 51-24 win over Cincinnati.

That week should have been about Tebow, Spikes, Cooper, and the 16 other senior Gators’ incredible four-year run that included two national championships. Instead, very much like Michigan-Ohio State this week, it was all about Meyer, Meyer, Meyer.

He played the same “aww shucks, nothing to see here” routine then as he’s playing now.

“I just have to make sure I have my priorities straight," Meyer said in a 2009 press conference just days before that Sugar Bowl. "A lot of times, coaches don't have their priorities straight."

Like a Greek chorus of admirers and sycophants, media members far and wide collectively nodded their heads and gave Meyer kudos all around. His decision to step away was viewed as noble, courageous and selfless. He was making a bold decision, stepping away from a life of high stress and even higher dollars, and putting other priorities in front of a job.

Great.

But then he decided to coach the game.

And return for one more mediocre season, too. Then he retired and we did the whole “Urban Meyer has his priorities straight” media lovefest thing again.

Regardless of how that Sugar Bowl circus turned out, the question still remains: Why couldn’t Meyer’s announcement have waited until after the Sugar Bowl?

As was the case then, Meyer is once again stealing the show from the kids that actually play the game.

Last Saturday, ESPN.com reported through sources that Ohio State had talked to Meyer about becoming coach and that there was “strong interest” on both sides. Meyer immediately denied those reports from ESPN’s sources, saying that he did not have a “formal offer” from the school.

Meyer works for ESPN.

He’s paid quite handsomely to be a color analyst for the network. ESPN’s “sources” couldn’t get a straight story from the source, himself? This is like the time ESPN ran a bottom line ticker “Breaking News” alert reporting that “Sources tell ESPN that ESPN is airing an hour-long special announcing LeBron James’ free agent decision.”

On Wednesday, WKMG in Orlando reported that Meyer was all set to sign a seven-year, $40 million deal with Ohio State. He’d be taking several current Gators assistant coaches with him, including defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin. Buckeyes interim head coach Luke Fickell is supposed to be a part of the staff, too.

Details as intricate as those don’t just appear out of thin air.

"I have not been offered any job nor is there a deal in place. I plan on spending Thanksgiving with my family and will not comment on this any further," a statement from Meyer read this week.

That sounds like the right thing to do.

But it’s hard to move beyond the issue when we get this comment from Meyer in the Gainesville Sun during the same week: “The concerns are still there. No. 1 — my health. No. 2 — my family. No. 3 — the state of college football. I've done some research into the second one. I've found that it is possible to have balance between your job and your family, that there are coaches out there who are doing it.”

I don’t know, that sure seems like a lot of commenting from a guy with no comment.

The media habitually beats up on Brett Favre for hogging the headlines and making the news about him. You can blame the Ohio State board of trustees for leaking this one or give SportsByBrooks the credit he’s due for breaking it, but I’m looking at Urban Meyer.

If anything, his timing seems to be off.

Yet, again.

By the time the Michigan-Ohio State game kicks off on Saturday, Meyer could already be announced as the new head coach in Columbus.

But who cares about that game or the players involved in it, anyway?

No comment.

[seofan_via_dublin]

And so it begins.

Welcome to OSU Urban, and the turncoat hate that you'll now receive from multiple media outlets!

[fightingtigers45]

DJ Durkin is not the defensive coordinator at the University of Florida. He is a linebackers coach and special teams coach (which he is awful at).

[seofan_via_dublin]

I also can't see how he'd have Durkin as the head of a defense, when he'll have better, more experienced people on his staff.

[fightingtigers45]

I also can't see how he'd have Durkin as the head of a defense, when he'll have better, more experienced people on his staff.

Durkin wouldn't be a great addition in my opinion. Just my opinion.

[FANOSPORTS]

Ah, finally no more Tressel ball. I was an avid OSU fan in my younger years and not so much in the last 20 or so (Cooper, Tressel era's) and now it's going to be great. An aerial attack that can move up to the new century along with being able to recruit the kids from the south with a northern Ohio kid at the helm that has an offensive mind. A lot of the OSU "fans" I know hate Meyer, Saban, Miles, Bowden and most of the other "Southern" coaches because they've never been able to beat these coaches and the teams down south. Wake up people, Urban will turn this thing around asap and then watch all these people I speak of jump on his bandwagon just like they do everyone else when they're winning up here but this time, they will win the big games they're supposed to win. Like the old saying goes, "if you can't beat'em, join'em".

[Cruiser74]

We can only hope Meyer is like Favre. Both hall of famers!