Urban Meyer recalls asking Nick Saban for a job early in coaching career

Once upon a time, it was a possibility we could see Nick Saban and Urban Meyer on the same sideline. Before either coach had gained the notoriety they have today, Saban considered offering Meyer a job when he was the coach at Toledo in 1990.

It got as far as Meyer calling the Saban household, where he spoke to Saban’s wife, Miss Terry. Meyer ultimately didn’t end up taking the job, but recalled the story of that phone conversation in a recent appearance on the All Things Covered podcast with Patrick Peterson and Bryant McFadden.

“Saban had just got hired at Toledo, and I’m from Toledo,” Meyer said. “I’m actually from Toledo and then Cincinnati and then Cleveland. Obviously, this way way before cell phones and iPads and all that. So I called his home. Terry Saban answered the phone and I put on a 30-minute recruiting speech. I remember her saying, ‘I can’t wait for him to talk to you.’

“So still whenever I see Terry Saban we still laugh about that. Because if I had her, it was over. I’m coming to Toledo. But at the time, I was at Illinois State making about $10,000 a year. I thought I’d take a run at it.”

Instead of joining Saban in Toledo, Meyer took a job as the receivers coach at Colorado State, where he remained until 1995. Saban spent just one season with the Rockets, leading them to a 9-2 record before accepting the defensive coordinator job with the Cleveland Browns.

Of course, both Urban Meyer and Nick Saban went on to win multiple national championships. The two also met four times across their careers, splitting those contests 2-2. That included a trio of big-time matchups, beginning with Meyer’s Florida team defeating Alabama 31-20 in the 2008 SEC Championship.

Saban and Alabama returned the favor in the 2009 SEC Championship Game by winning 32-13. Then, when Meyer was at Ohio State in 2014, the Buckeyes knocked out the No. 1 Crimson Tide in a semifinal of the inaugural College Football Playoff.

Meyer has since retired from coaching following a tumultuous stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021. As for Saban, he has remained the head coach of Alabama, leading it to six national championships over the past 16 seasons.