Report: Urban Meyer denies link with Michigan State vacancy, happy in broadcasting
Urban Meyer is reportedly not a candidate nor is he interested in the Michigan State head coaching job, according to The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman.
“About the ‘reports’ linking Urban Meyer to the Michigan State HC job… I just checked with him,” Feldman wrote on Twitter. “There is zero truth to it with him being a candidate for it. He has no interest in that, and is happy with what he’s doing now at Fox Sports.”
There were rumors floating around that Meyer could be convinced to take the job at MSU and the Spartans were interested in giving him a hefty amount.
However, the three-time national champion head coach with Florida and Ohio State is set to remain at Fox Sports and has no interest in the gig, per Feldman.
Michigan State fired Mel Tucker after allegations of sexual misconduct with Brenda Tracy, an activist in sexual assault and harassment prevention and awareness.
Meyer last coached in 2021 with the Jacksonville Jaguars, his first stint in the NFL. However, he went 2-11 and was fired prior to the end of the season.
Meyer’s time in the pros was marred by controversy with how he dealt with his players, off the field transgressions midseason, as well as bringing in former Heisman winner Tim Tebow, his former Florida QB, as a tight end during training camp.
However, there’s no denying Meyer’s prowess as a head coach at the collegiate level. He’s 187-32 overall but last coached at the level in 2018 with Ohio State.
He went 83-9 with the Buckeyes and won the 2014 College Football Playoff National Championship. Meyer won two national titles at Florida (2006 and ’08) and went 65-15 at the school. He also coached at Bowling Green and Utah from 2001-04.
Meyer is of the mind college football needs a commissioner, but is unsure if it’ll happen. With the way the sport is now, being five years removed could be a huge factor in why Meyer reportedly would not to resume coaching.
“I did. I’ve sat in many, many meetings,” Meyer said this summer. “That problem is that really every conference is out for itself. Every school is. I mean, there’s no getting along, let’s do this thing together. Right now the SEC is worried about one thing. The SEC. The Big Ten obviously, they couldn’t care less about the Pac-12 because they took their teams. You know Same with the Big 12 …
“So as long as everybody is so independent, the chance of a commissioner and coming under one umbrella, I don’t see that happening. I don’t see that at all. Because right now the SEC, you know, do you think they really could care about the Pac-12 and Big Ten, the Big 12? Not at all and same with the Big Ten. They are where they need to be. They’re worried about one thing, can they support all these other sports and every program in their conference? And that’s a tall task.”