“You gotta let me go”: Urban Meyer recalls threatening to leave Ohio State over denied request for a bible reading

Former Ohio State Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer reveals he once threatened to quit.

Meyer is known as a religious person, and during his time as the Buckeyes football coach, he would hold a bible study for players who wanted to attend. However, he revealed before that happened, Ohio State tried to deny it, which made Meyer threaten to leave.

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"Every Sunday right before our team meeting, we are going to have Church service because you take the whole week, players don't have time to go to Church. So, I want to bring Church to them," Meyer said. "The school attorney came over to me and said, Coach you can't do that. I said I can't do what.

"The person said you can't have the bible study and you can't have the church service. I said well we are going to do it... We are doing it, our athletic director came over and I said we are doing this, if not, you gotta let me go."

Meyer said the compromise was that they couldn't call it a bible study or a church, but instead had to call it a reflection time. The coach also said it wasn't mandatory, but he wanted to let the players have the chance to attend if they wanted.

Meyer ended up coaching at Ohio State from 2012 until 2018, going 83-9 and helping them win the national title in 2014.

Urban Meyer shares his prediction for Ohio State in 2025

The Ohio State Buckeyes won the national title last season, but Urban Meyer is expecting a slight step back this season.

Meyer predicted the Buckeyes will go 10-2 on 'The Triple Option' which he thinks would be a good season.

“That’s actually a hell of a season with a new team,” Meyer said. “You know what a new team is by the end of the year? It’s not a new team anymore. It’s an old team. They’ll be a veteran team by the time they get to Ann Arbor.”

Meyer believes losing both coordinators will hurt the Buckeyes in 2025, as well as losing so many key players to the NFL.

Ohio State has notable games against Texas, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Michigan, among others.

About the author

Cole is an NHL, NFL and College Sports reporter at Sportskeeda with over 7 years of experience writing for publications like CBC, USA Today, SMG, BJPENN, Sherdog and SB Nation.

An NHL fan his whole life, Cole played rep hockey in Canada from age 5 until 17 and grew up rooting for Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Bay Lightning. His all-time favorite players are Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos, while Jon Cooper is his favorite coach of all time.

Cole attended Sheridan College and received his journalism degree in 2019. After decades of watching and reporting, he considers his knowledge of sports as his primary strength. He ensures that the same story has been reported by at least two reputed reporters before creating it.

Cole enjoys playing golf and spending time with friends and family when not reporting breaking stories. His favorite sports moment is from the 2010 Olympics, when Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal in overtime to beat Team USA for the gold medal.

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Edited by Cole Shelton