"Sports performance model was not what I wanted": When Urban Meyer revealed how he transformed Ohio State after taking the reins

Urban Meyer has three national championships to his name. Two of these were won with the Florida Gators with their 2006-2008 roster led by Tim Tebow. The final natty won by Meyer came in 2014 during his time in charge of the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Meyer joined the program in 2012, and his success in 2014 was the result of a transformative approach that he instigated.

In 2023, Meyer made an appearance on the "Comfort, Peace and Freedom podcast," where he spoke about what he did when he took over at the program.

"There was certain areas that I wanted to change. (Timestamp: 7:55). The strength and sports performance model was not what I wanted so we devoted a lot of time and resources (to that)."

Meyer came into a Buckeyes program that had recently fired long-time coach Jim Tressel. During his tenure, the Buckeyes were consistently one of the strongest teams in the Big Ten Conference and the country, winning the national championship in 2002.

However, things quickly collapsed once Tressel resigned in early 2011 over a recruitment scandal. Luke Fickell (the current Wisconsin Badgers coach) took his place as coach for the 2011 season but struggled, leading the Buckeyes to a losing season (6-7 overall) and their worst since 1999.

Meyer very quickly changed things. By implementing his own models in sports performance, recovery, and recruitment (things that brought him consistent success with the Florida Gators), Ohio State returned to the national championship conversation again in 2012 and remained there for all of Meyer's time with the Buckeyes.

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Urban Meyer was offered a GM role

Now, Urban Meyer has left coaching and is now a college football pundit and analyst. However, this does not mean that he is not a wanted man by some college programs.

On a recent edition of his podcast "The Third Option," Meyer spoke about a recent encounter he had with a curious unnamed college football program.

" I had a school come see me this year and ask if I wanted to be the GM. And a couple other phone calls. And you start to think, ‘OK, they actually came to see me,’ so I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll meet and I’ll sit down with you guys.' I said, ‘OK, what is the job description?’ They said, ‘Well, basically you meet with all the agents of the 17-, 18-year-olds. And I thought, ‘I’d rather step on a rusty nail and pull it out myself.'”

To Meyer, the thought of this role, one that is more focused around finances, contracts and NIL deals (something he never had to deal with as a college coach), is something that does not interest him.

Meyer worked best as a coach, and all of the wisdom that he imparts during his media appearances are things he found out by being a coach and leader.