Urban Meyer mocks the potential of trades in college football: 'What in the hell are you talking about?'

Following one of the wildest and most chaotic NFL Trade Deadline days in recent memory Tuesday, FOX Sports host Rob Stone started thinking about a different world. Could a similar scenario work in college football?

And, at a time when collegiate sports are becoming more professionalized with the advent of revenue sharing, NIL and the NCAA Transfer Portal, the proposition of college football trades isn’t as far-fetched as it might have been a decade ago. In fact, it basically already happened this past Spring when former Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava and ex-Appalachian State/UCLA QB Joey Aguilar effectively traded places after both entered the portal in late April, only to sign with the Bruins and Volunteers, respectively.

But when Stone proposed the potential for college football to have its own trade deadline on Tuesday night’s The Triple Option College Football Playoff Ranking Reaction show, fellow Big Noon Kickoff analyst — and former Florida and Ohio State head coach — Urban Meyer flatly rejected the mere suggestion. He was blown away by the thought.

“What the hell are you talking about? … What are we doing, Rob?” Meyer said as Stone and fellow podcast co-host Mark Ingram II defended the legitimacy of such a proposal. “Don’t you dare ask that question. … Then you’d just (make college football) the minor leagues (for the NFL) and get them out of school.”

Following Meyer’s mocking, Ingram suggested any potential trading deadline in college football would require the sport to further embrace the NFL’s professional model. That likely means adopting collective bargaining and designating student-athletes as employees.

“It won’t happen because we’re still battling over when the portal should be opened or closed,” Ingram said. “So, until there’s (a professional) structure, there’s not going to be no trade deadline in college.”

At this point, Meyer quickly changed the subject, focusing instead on the current state of college football. He focused on how many teams remain in the mix for a Playoff spot entering the second weekend in November.

“Well, you have parity, and right now between 15-20 teams are still active in the Playoffs,” Meyer said. “It couldn’t be better, as far as the fan interest and the most important people are those players. … I’m so pissed we didn’t have this in ’09, I wanted another swing at ‘Bama. … And that ’15 team, we would’ve won (a 12-team Playoff).”

Urban Meyer reacts to Ohio State being No. 1 in first College Football Playoff rankings

For the third time (2019 and 2023 previously) in the 11-year history of the College Football Playoff, Ohio State was tabbed as the top team in the country in the initial CFP Top 25 rankings of the 2025 season.

Former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer reacted to his Buckeyes being selected as the No. 1 team in the rankings on The Triple Option College Football Playoff Ranking Reaction. Meyer believed that the committee got it right, placing his former program ahead of fellow unbeatens Indiana and Texas A&M at No. 2 and 3, respectively.

“We got to see Ohio State up close and personal twice, actually three times this year,” Meyer said. “Offensively, they’re so much improved from when they played Texas (in the season opener). I love Indiana. I love their staff and I love their players. And we’ve seen them at least once, maybe twice this year. I can’t remember.

“Ohio State has better players at the end of the day,” Meyer continued. “It’s not a disrespect to IU at all. Just watching the NFL Draft, it’s gonna be ridiculous again. So at the end of the day, they got it right. Does that mean Ohio State will beat Indiana? I mean, I don’t know, man. IU does not make mistakes.”