BY JASON PRACH
On Tuesday, Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer retired from the Ohio State Buckeyes and the game of college football. Meyer 54, has been dealing with health issues over the last decade decided to make the decision in a press conference yesterday afternoon. He will coach the team in the Rose Bowl January 1st vs Washington. “I believe I will not Coach again,” he said. Due to the domestic violence allegations of former assistant Coach Zach Smith, the Toledo Ohio native served a 3 game suspension at the beginning of the 2018 season. He did go onto say that was another part of his decision to quit coaching as well. Assistant Ryan Day, will take over the head coaching duties in 2019 at Ohio State.
His health concerns have been a problem throughout his coaching career. After the SEC Championship Game with the Florida Gators in 2009, he nearly retired after complaining of chest pains. He officially stepped down on Dec 9, 2010 and had said he wanted to spend more time with his family. In 2014, he had acknowledged that he had surgery to remove a cyst on his brain that caused related headaches. He continued with those same symptoms throughout the 2018 season and had passed out once on the Buckeyes sidelines. His Florida record was 65-15 with 2 National Titles to his credit both in 2006 and 2008. However, during his time in Gainesville from 2005-2010, there were 31 player arrests, most notably former player Aaron Hernandez arrested on 2 separate occasions in 2007. Hernandez ultimately was convicted of murder in 2015. Through the domestic violence issue, him knowing about the issue and not following protocol, and the history of his off field issues, his reputation and legacy are now both tarnished. Yes, you cannot argue his dominance in his career going 12-0 at Utah with a Fiesta Bowl victory in 2004, and going 82-9 at OSU with a whopping 186-32 career record with 3 National Championships. He went 7-0 vs arch rival Michigan including a big 62-39 victory on November 24, 2018. Only 3 other coaches have a better winning percentage. 54-4 in conference games is just an unreal stat. That’s a record coaches only dream of touching or having that kind of success. I don’t think we have seen the end of Urban Meyer. His legacy on the field speaks for itself. He can turn any program around and has proved that. However, although living with a tarnished image, I don’t think we have seen the last of him. He is too good not to coach. It is in his DNA but off the field stuff has took a toll and time will tell if and when he makes a return to College Football.
