There is no doubt that Meyer is a great football coach – his record at Florida, Utah and Bowling Green speaks for itself. His roots in Ohio – being an Ohio native (Ashtabula, Ohio), a University of Cincinnati alum, a former OSU assistant – tight ends and receivers – and the former head coach of Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in Ohio are well known.
However, while the deal is done and I may look a fool – it’s not the first time, trust me – I believe that ‘Meyer-Mania’ may be a bit of a rush to judgment.
Here’s why:
The potential sanctions against OSU’s football program: While the NCAA informed OSU that they found no new violations against its football program that was before an additional charge was levied against OSU on November 10, 2011, one in which OSU was hit with a charge of “failing to monitor” the actions of a booster, Bobby Degeronimo, resulting in OSU receiving the NCAA’s second-most serious violation.
As with the violations discovered in the spring of 2011 – primarily stemming from a memorabilia-sales scandal which prompted the resignation of former head coach Jim Tressel – OSU levied self-imposed punishments, in the most recent case the loss of five (5) scholarships over the next three seasons.
And given the “Barney Fife” perception of the NCAA when it comes to detection and enforcement of violations and infractions has much merit, OSU, Meyer nor anyone know exactly the totality of violations OSU incurred or what punishment the NCAA will impart upon OSU.
OSU fans can assume that the self-imposed punishment will suffice but until the NCAA officially imposes its punishment against OSU, to assume that little punishment will be levied is quite foolhardy – no one has that level of Extra-Sensory Perception (ESP).
So, how would affect Urban Meyer’s decision?
Urban Meyer is a very sharp man. Unless the NCAA provided him the extent of the penalties against OSU, he doesn’t accept the job until he knows the NCAA’s ultimate judgment.
It’s been reported that the NCAA will disclose the punishment against OSU on Friday, November 25th. Someone as wise as Meyer waited to see what the NCAA’s ultimate decision will be, first before he will commit to the position.
Consider the case of Al Golden with the University of Miami (FL): after accepting the head coaching job, it was discovered that Miami booster Nevin Shapiro provided thousands of improper benefits to Miami Hurricane players over an 8-year period (2002-2010). In Golden’s case, this information wasn’t known when he accepted the position but he had to have felt betrayed upon finding this out after already accepting the position. Urban Meyer won’t make that mistake.
Also, OSU fans must consider the issue of Meyer’s health which was the primary reason he left the Florida Gators football program, a program he led to two national championships. Is he sure that his health is good enough to plow himself into one of college football’s greatest pressure cookers? He also based his decision to leave on wanting to spend more time with his family, which begs the question: Did he not enjoy the time with his family?
Update: On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that there are a handful of obstacles Meyer must clear before further engaging with Ohio State, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. That includes speaking with his entire family over Thanksgiving and further researching just how significant the NCAA sanctions against OhioState may be.
As for putting “all your eggs in one basket”, I draw back to when the University of Pittsburgh’s men’s basketball coaching search was bee-lined towards one, and only one, candidate, the late Skip Prosser. This was in 2003 when Ben Howland accepted the UCLA position – the belief was that Prosser, a Pittsburgh area resident, would leave Wake Forest University to coach the now-stout Panther basketball program to its now established elite status.
What occurred was Prosser chose to remain at WakeForest, leaving Pitt fans feeling in a lurch. Ultimately, Howland’s assistant coach, Jamie Dixon, accepted the position and was able to maintain their continued prominence. While I’m not suggesting that OSU hire its interim coach, Luke Fickell – that’s just not going to happen – what I am suggesting is that, no matter who accepts the position, that OSU will return to its elite status, and shortly.
If OSU fans recall, when Gary Williams left OSU in 1989 to become the men’s basketball coach at the University of Maryland, the belief that many of the elite NCAA basketball coaches – Nolan Richardson, Lon Kruger and Jim Crews, to name a few – would leave their current head coaching jobs to take the OSU position. Eventually, Randy Ayers was named as OSU’s head coach and led their program to consecutive no. 1 seeds in the 1991 and 1992 seasons.
Another example of OSU not going with the ‘conventional wisdom’ coaching candidate was during 2001 when head coach John Cooper was fired after the 2001 Outback Bowl. The conventional wisdom was the following coaches would be offered, and probably accept, the OSU football coach position: Mike Bellotti, Glen Mason. However, little-known – to those outside of Division 1-AA football circles – Jim Tressel was named to replace John Cooper as its head football coach in 2001 and the rest – prior to 2011 – was history.
So, OSU fans:
While I believe Meyer would be a phenomenal hire to immediately restore the football program to its pre-2011 luster, I also ask that you remove yourself from the ledge, that you be patient and let the NCAA’s announcement play out, first.
Otherwise, you will appear to be both desperate – a rush to judgment and assuming that Meyer will accept a job regardless of the penalty – and condescending – assuming that one, and only one, coach will and must accept the position.
– Ed Cmar, CPA, is a writer for TheSportsBank.net and a graduate of The Ohio State University – MBA, Fisher College of Business, C’2005