<a href="https://www.on3.com/db/coach/urban-meyer-132190/">Urban Meyer</a> went through a few intense recruiting battles during his days. Not just at <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/ohio-state-buckeyes/">Ohio State</a> but also going back to his time at <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/florida-gators/">Florida</a>. Plenty of them resulted in wins for Meyer, consistently having one of the more talented rosters in college football. However, as for any coach, some of the losses sting all these years later.



Somebody Meyer really wanted at Ohio State actually wound up on the other side of The Game. <a href="https://www.on3.com/db/jabrill-peppers-50854/">Jabrill Peppers</a> played for <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/michigan-wolverines/">Michigan</a> and was an incredible player. If Meyer had his way, Ohio State would have been the school Peppers signed with, though.



“You talk about the Wolverines,” Meyer <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8oKePdXXwY">began</a>. “Jabrill Peppers, I wanted him bad. I think he was a great player.”



Peppers played great against Ohio State during his college career, even if none of the three games resulted in Michigan wins. He hurt the Buckeyes in all three phases. Defensive back was his main position but Peppers had 54 total offensive yards during the 2015 matchup. A season later, he returned a kick for 44 yards.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-two-recruiting-misses-at-florida-stand-out-to-urban-meyer">Two recruiting misses at Florida stand out to Urban Meyer</h2>



Meyer then turned back the clock a little, going to his days in Gainesville. Two players stand out above all as guys Meyer wished he was able to bring to Florida. One on each side of the ball, both of whom turned out to have great college and NFL careers.



“The one that I would say is <a href="https://www.on3.com/db/patrick-peterson-95528/">Patrick Peterson</a> at Florida,” Meyer said. “I had him. I think he’s going to be a Hall of Famer… love that player. And then the other one is <a href="https://www.on3.com/db/coach/cj-spiller-16503/">CJ Spiller</a>. Twenty-five miles from the Swamp… If the Gators would have gotten that cat back in the ’07, ’08 era, it wouldn’t have been fair how much talent we had on that team.”



Peterson turned into somebody Meyer had to face on an annual basis. LSU won out in his recruitment, right as Florida was making runs with <a href="https://www.on3.com/db/tim-tebow-112850/">Tim Tebow</a>. Flash forward a few years and Peterson was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.



As for Spiller, four seasons were spent at <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/clemson-tigers/">Clemson</a>. Meyer believes adding him to the Florida offensive attack would have been “unfair.” When the Gators won the 2008 national championship, Spiller was busy averaging 5.3 yards per carry and getting into the end zone on seven occasions for Clemson.

urban-meyer-rejects-ohio-state-national-title-or-bust-narrative-its-actually-the-rivalry-game-or-bust

On3 Football

Urban Meyer recalls notable recruiting misses he had when coaching

team image

The Main Board

Football

Basketball

Women's Basketball

Softball

Baseball

Teams

Fan Sites

Forums

Shows

team-link

College Football News

College Football Player Rankings

College Football Rankings

College Football Playoff

College Basketball News

Women's Sports

College

NIL News

NIL Valuation

NIL Deals

NIL Deal Tracker

Sports Business

Transfer Portal News

NCAA Transfer Portal News

NCAA Transfer Portal

Transfer Portal Rankings

Transfer Portal Team Rankings

Transfer Portal

NCAA Transfer Portal Home

Football Recruiting

Basketball Recruiting

Database

Team Rankings

Player Rankings

Industry Comparison

Commitments

Recruiting Prediction Machine

Recruiting

High School News

Schools

High School Search

Rankings

High School Rankings

Scores

High School Scores

High School

NFL Draft

NFL Draft News

Draft By Stars

College Draft History

College Draft Totals

NBA Draft

NBA Draft News

Draft

NASCAR

Culture

Sports Betting

About

On3 App

Advertise

Press

Contact

Alabama

Arizona State

Arizona

Arkansas

Auburn

Baylor

Boston College

California

Removed

Clemson

Colorado

Duke

Florida

Florida State

Georgia

Georgia Tech

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Iowa State

Kansas

Kansas State

Kentucky

Lettermen Row

Lettermen Lounge

Louisville

Maryland

Miami

Michigan State

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi State

Missouri

NC State

Nebraska

North Carolina

Northwestern

Notre Dame

Ohio State

Oklahoma

Oklahoma State

Ole Miss

Oregon

Oregon State

Penn State

Pittsburgh

Purdue

Rutgers

South Carolina

Stanford

Syracuse

Tennessee

Texas A&M

Texas

Texas Tech

UCLA

Utah

Vanderbilt

Virginia

Virginia Tech

Wake Forest

Washington

Washington State

West Virginia

Wisconsin

BamaOnLine

BOL Round Table

Inside Texas

IT Members Only

DawgsHQ

Dawg Walk

Scoop Duck

Recruiting & Sports

AuburnSports

The Corner

WeAreSC

GarryP's Trojan Huddle

The Wolverine

The Fort

The Lions Den

The Wolfpacker

The Wolves’ Den

GatorsOnline

Swamp Talk

Alabama A&M

Alabama State

Albany

Alcorn State

Abilene Christian

Appalachian State

Akron

Army

Austin Peay

Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Arkansas-Little Rock

Arkansas State

Air Force

Ball State

American

Wofford

Winthrop

Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Wisconsin-Green Bay

Wichita State

Western Carolina

Volleyball

Gymnastics

Men's Lacrosse

Women's Lacrosse

Men's Soccer

Women's Soccer

Women's Track

Men's Golf

Women's Golf

Men's Hockey

Women's Hockey

Men's Swimming

Women's Swimming

Wrestling

Men's Tennis

Women's Tennis

Annual $1

Annual Premium

Annual $1 

Monthly

Annual

Unlimited Access to This and All Articles.

Article (On3 Plus Rivals)

Forum (On3 Plus Rivals)

Intro

Join

College scoop, experts, and community - all in one.

Urban Meyer recalls notable recruiting misses he had when coaching

Darian Mensah

NIL and QBs

Lou Holtz

Best hoops conference

Player Buyouts