The Case For (And Against) Urban Meyer To Michigan State

Michigan State football is still in the middle of its season, but the conversations regarding this program have all been about off-the-field developments. Who MSU hires as its next head coach has been the chief talking point of late.

There have been many rumblings and various candidates talked about, but no official word on the coaching search has been made public yet, outside of athletic director Alan Haller stating that secrecy was of the utmost importance regarding the process. Several names have been thrown into the mix, but the one who hasn’t coached college football since 2018 has stuck out amongst others — Urban Meyer.

MSU’s fanbase have some very strong opinions as to why Meyer is the right coach for the Spartans moving forward, or why he’s not the right guy for the job. Below, I share the case for Michigan State to hire Meyer, and the case against such a move.

The Case for Meyer

If Meyer were to come back to the college ranks, he would be one of four coaches in the country that have won a national championship during the College Football Playoff era. Meyer has won at every stop he’s been in college football, which includes Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State. He has a collegiate record of 187-32, which also includes a 12-3 record in bowl games.

Every stop along the way has presented unique challenges, and Meyer was questioned or doubted at just about every one of them. Still, that hasn’t stopped him from turning programs around and winning conference and/or national titles at those places. In his 17 years as a head coach, Meyer has a winning percentage of .854, which is vastly superior to the rate those programs won at before his arrival. If you take the previous five seasons of every school before Meyer was the head coach (combined 20 years at the four different schools), they had a combined winning percentage of .605.

Meyer was born and raised in Ohio with strong ties to the midwest. This would benefit Michigan State on the recruiting trail, and make the Spartans a recruiting power in the state of Ohio, not to mention nationally. Those ties to his home state, as well as Meyer’s relationship with former Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio, could make MSU an appealing job for him.

Some have speculated that a return to college coaching for Meyer would have to be either close to his home in Ohio, or close to home in Florida. East Lansing is no more than four hours away from Columbus, which could also make MSU an appealing job for him. Both Meyer and Michigan State would have to show interest, and the Spartans would have to make a contract offer that would be able to draw Meyer from the millions he is making now as an analyst on Fox Sports’ Big Noon Kickoff show. There are hurdles to overcome, and a public relations storm that would have to be weathered, but there’s little doubt Meyer would build a winner in East Lansing.

The Case Against Meyer

Meyer’s last coaching stop was 2021 in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars. After coming out of retirement to take that job, Meyer was fired before his first season ended, finishing his pro coaching career with a 2-11 record. Many reports came out soon after that said his players were not pleased with his coaching style. The NFL is much different than college, and there were some reports that suggested Meyer mistreated certain players and staff members in Jacksonville.

Other great college coaches who tried the NFL have failed, with Nick Saban being the most notable. Let’s say his failure in the NFL is not an issue, what other areas of concern are there?

Part of Meyer’s story is the various scandals that have occurred at the college programs under his watch, most notably Florida and Ohio State. Over a six-year stretch during his time in Gainesville, there were 31 arrests of 25 Florida players during Meyer’s tenure, several of which resulted in felony charges. In Columbus, its widely assumed that Meyer tried to cover up the scandal involving one of his assistant coaches, Zach Smith, who was accused of domestic abuse by his now ex-wife Courtney Smith. Zach Smith was charged and convicted for violating a civil protection order from his wife. Meyer was suspended by Ohio State for three games over his handling of Smith, who was not fired until after the situation went public.

In addition to the off-the-field issue, there are some practical on-field reason to question if Meyer would be a good option for Michigan State. Meyer hasn’t been in the college game since 2018, which is a long time in this sport. He has never experienced the transfer portal or dealt with NIL, which are two of the biggest components in building a roster in the new modern era of college football. The role of a head coach has changed from five years ago, and carries with it many more responsibilities.

There’s also the concern of age. Meyer is 59 years old and has already retired from coaching twice due to health concerns. When he became stressed, Meyer has stated he experienced physical health issues that would lead to chest pain and headaches. In a recent interview, Meyer admitted to becoming addicted to sleeping pills. If he were to take the Michigan State job, would Meyer change how he coaches in order to take care of his health? Or would there be the concern that he could retire again at any time?

Summary

Meyer hasn’t spent more than seven seasons at one stop as a coach, but he has always left programs better than he found them football-wise. He won national championships at the two major conference schools that he coached at (Utah was in the Mountain West during Meyer’s tenure) and elevated all four program's talent-level significantly.

Meyer’s coaching tree of includes coaches that have been successful while building other programs, including Dan Mullen (Mississippi State/Florida) and Kyle Whittingham (Utah). Meyer would surely bring a proven coaching staff with him to East Lansing.

Is Meyer done with coaching? Is Michigan State the right fit for him? We don’t know the answers to those questions yet. While it would be a disappointing outcome for some fans if MSU does not hire Meyer, he could be a great asset and help Michigan State find the right next head coach.

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