SEC North?

When Urban Meyer began his fantastically success current run at Ohio State he got in trouble with his fellow conference coaches for poaching recruits, something that the Big Ten always frowned upon. But Meyer was doing something he had always done, and is accepted throughout the nation, and the message was clear: the Buckeyes were going to do whatever it took to win and the rest of the conference had better do the same if it wanted to compete. Meyer has gone on to win 38 of 41 games with the Buckeyes with only one conference loss so the lesson is clear. Do whatever it takes to win and you will be lauded when you do win. And so now we sit in February and on signing day OSU pulled a receiver from Arkansas whose high school coach was fired for supposedly giving money to said receiver's family. There are rumors swirling that there is even more to the story but a lot of that could be due to hurt feelings on the part of the locals. Even so this is a huge red flag. Meanwhile the Buckeyes are over the limit when it comes to the number of scholarship players on the current roster and have been before--they have had SEC-like roster movement over the past few years--there is no player currently pointing fingers and accusing the program of tossing him aside. That said, it is dangerous to play the you-need-to-have-more-than-85-in-February game to overcome potential defections and injuries as there will be a year when you wake up August 1st with extra players who will have to be "cut". It is an awful product of over-signing and has been something that has dampened the SEC's recent success. Like with the Hill situation there does not seem to be anything clearly wrong being done by Meyer and his staff but there is some smoke. Winning can only cover up so much of this crap. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, meanwhile, just hired the mother of Stanford safety Wayne Lyons as director of player development. The offer has to be good enough to get the woman, a former teacher, to move from Florida to Ann Arbor. Her son, who was recruited by Harbaugh but never played for him, has wavered on what he plans to do next year. He has graduated and can transfer. This again may be much ado about nothing, but the impression be given is that Harbaugh is doing what he can tokeep up with Meyer. It just does not smell right.

Carlos Hyde Suspended

Urban Meyer suspended RB Carlos Hyde for at least the first three games of the season (Buffalo, San Diego State and Cal) for his actions at a Columbus bar.  Whether or not you believe Hyde hit the young woman at the bar and whatever your feelings toward Meyer, some strong punishment had to be leveled.  Men should not be striking women and a football player representing a university cannot be seen as a threat to the local populace.  So Hyde should consider himself lucky that charges were not pursued by the woman and that he has a chance to play ball.  As for Meyer, he is rightfully getting heat for running too loose of a ship and this moves smells of a poor attempt to get said heat off of his back.  He is already under pressure to deliver another undefeated team this season. Now he'll have to do so while keeping his players out of trouble.  He was unable to do that at Florida and in his first year at OSU.  Can an old dog learn new tricks?

He's Baaaaaaack

I am not sure what to make of Urban Meyer's return to the coaching ranks. I am not a big fan of the guy as a person, as I do believe the moniker Urban Liar is an appropriate one, but he is a good coach. Not a great coach, but very good. He will do well at OSU where he will get first crack at many talented local players while grabbing a few top-notch players from around the country. He will get full support from all involved and the probation and losses of scholarships is not too bad. Considering he is now in the same conference with Indiana, Purdue, Illinois, Minnesota, etc, he should be okay. Ohio State is a top 5, maybe top 3, program.
But there is more to it than that. At the heart of the recent OSU scandal was law breaking followed by a cover up by coach Jim Tressel. While we have no reason to believe Meyer would keep any NCAA rule violations to himself, he has a woeful record in recruiting the kind of kid who would break the laws in the first place. It took more than 20 arrests of Florida players before it became a school embarrassment (Meyer never seemed to notice)--how many in Columbus where there should be a zero policy for that type of behavior? And I believe the way he walked out on Florida was more cowardly than some legitimate move for his health and family. His coaching staff had been ripped to shreds by guys getting head coaching jobs, Tim Tebow graduated, his offense had been figured out and he was no longer the big guy in the conference with Nick Saban's success at Alabama. Suddenly he loved his family? The only way he could have proved me wrong was to stay away as how could a return be legitimate when you said you were leaving for health reasons and your family? He talks of working less, but that is impossible. Meyer won because he out-worked guys. Buckeye fans will expect nothing less than excellence even with probation.

Urban Meyer

What's to say? Once again he is not only stepping down as Florida coach but is talking about priorities and need to be with family. But why paint himself into that corner? And then when he takes the Denver Broncos job we will all come down on him again. And of the big three college football programs in Florida, Jumbo Fisher is now the coach with the longest tenure--1 year.
Hopefully for Meyer's family's sake he will spend more time with them. And hopefully for Mississippi State they will not have to look for a new coach this winter. It is my prediction that they will. I also feel that this will make Miami hasten their search so that the new guy can poach some Gator recruits. All's fair in love and coaching.

Florida at crossroads

This is it Gator fans. Is Urban Meyer a truly great coach? Are the Gators national title contenders? Will the latest bit of bad behavior by a Florida player damage the program?

Florida has looked pretty ordinary in the opening two weeks of the season, especially on offense where the absence of quarterback Tim Tebow seems pretty glaring as the whole unit is adapting to a different philosophy. These things take time. Meanwhile slot receiver Chris Rainey, who has been a disappointment this year after taking over the "Percy Harvin" position on the offense in the spring, has bigger fish to fry after his brutal treatment of his girlfriend this week. He has plenty of legal issues to deal with and should not be able to use his clout as a Gator to get away with the abuse and threats he showered on the poor girl. Unfortunately Meyer being Meyer he has not tossed the jerk off his team but just suspended him for an unknown amount of time.

But the fact that he has generated heat for yet another legal transgression by a Florida player under his watch (no. 30 in 5+ years) does not bode well for Tennessee this week. When Meyer has to defend himself against legitimate charges he gets angry. When Meyer gets angry he takes it out on his opponents (see Cincinnati in last year's Sugar Bowl or Georgia in 2008). Meyer was already mad with the Vols after last year's 23-13 Florida win and while the main target of his ire, former coach Lane Kiffin, has moved on he will take out his frustrations on the current Tennessee squad.

And if he wants to be considered a great coach, then he has to blow out an undermanned Tennessee squad this weekend. If not, he faces the charge as being only as good as Tebow was. If not, he has to deal with the lawbreaking by his team beyond phony suspensions (see Brandon Spikes in 2009). If not, he may have to milk his health issues for more sympathy.

Coaching Crazies

Are the lunatics running the asylum? With reports out of Lubbock that Texas Tech has suspended head coach Mike Leach one game for his odd treatment of a concussed player--who it turns out is the son of Craig James!?!?!-on the heels of the continued saga of Florida coach Urban Meyer, it is clear that huge paychecks are no guarantee of the sanity of football coaches.
The Leach situation is turning ugly fast as the coach is undertaking a legal fight to return to the sideline for the upcoming Alamo Bowl, while Tech is investigating the matter. Leach and the university have come to odds before, mostly about money, and then at midseason this season Texas Tech was probably uncomfortable with Leach's odd tirade blaming his team's lack of focus after a loss to Texas A&M on his players' "fat, little girlfriends."
Meyer's retirement, then limited about-face, seemed to come out of nowhere. There is clearly a great deal of pressure attached to a program that was once desperate to win an SEC title and now expects to compete annually for national titles. But saying that you are quitting because of illness and a desire to spend more time with your family and then changing your tune soon after because your team had a spirited practice is beyond belief. What is the truth? This is nuts.
Forget the excitement on the field over the next few days, the real intrigue in college football is now centered on that wacky band of coaches. Who will be the next to put his foot in his mouth or into the backside of a player?

View From Bennett Avenue

The news from Gainesville regarding Urban Meyer's retirement yesterday was stunning. He had built an empire of sorts there and seemed to be ready to compete for SEC titles and national championships for years to come.

Now, he had been hospitalized after the recent SEC championship game, but that seemed to be a warning sign for him personally and it was not made out to be a big deal at the time. The college football world had more to focus on that week with the craziness at the end of the Big 12 title game and with the then upcoming Heisman vote. Meyer is a young man, with great ambitions as a football coach. If he was not going to pursue the Notre Dame job, which he had recently labelled his "dream job," then it seemed that he would be patrolling the sidelines at Florida for many more successful seasons.

Hopefully he is making this decision for all of the right reasons--that he does want to spend more time with his family and wants to do so for a long time and in better health. To be successful at college coaching is incredibly taxing and it would have been hard to imagine that Meyer could have remained so driven for another 20-30 years.

I must admit that as someone who respects Meyer as a coach but does not like some of his ways--the numerous player arrests, the fights with other coaches, the "poaching" of other teams' recruits, the current allegations of playing favorites among players, etc--I was looking forward to his coaching effort next season when he had to replace one of the most valuable players in college football history in Tim Tebow and break in a new D coordinator and coach a squad with a host of first-time starters. Next season would have been a great challenge to Meyer, but perhaps the thought of that was too much to take for someone who has grown used to double-digit wins each year.

The person who came to mind for me almost immediately when I heard the news about Meyer was Frank Leahy. They are both about the same age when they left a demanding coaching job and each had similar levels of success. Leahy won 107 games in 13 seasons at both Boston College and Notre Dame. Meyer has won 95 games in nine seasons at three stops. Leahy won four national titles; Meyer two, but he could have tied the Hall of Famer in a few years. Both coaches cited health reasons when departing, although Leahy would later say that he felt unwanted by a Notre Dame administration that then felt that football was getting too big. Leahy would never return to a college football sideline. Let's see what happens to the talented and driven Meyer.

By the way, I like Kentucky and the points tonight against Clemson.

SEC State of Mind

Is there anyone else growing weary of the attention placed on the mouths of Lane Kiffin and Urban Meyer? Sportswriters drool over every word these two spout as if these two idiots can solve world problems. I did not expect much from Kiffin, who has to use his mouth to cover up his deficiencies as a coach, but Meyer? He has gotten into spats with Pete Carroll, Ron Zook, Steve Spurrier, Mark Richt, half of Notre Dame’s fan base and, of course, Kiffin, among others. How mad would he be without two national titles in four years? Lighten up and enjoy yourself for crying out loud!

What interests me more about this upcoming slate of games for SEC teams are questions like: Can anyone on Arkansas cover Julio Jones? (No.) Can South Carolina hang with a Mississippi squad hit by the flu bug? (Probably not.) With Auburn playing well, is the SEC West now a four team race? (At least until the Hogs play three SEC road games in October.) Can Georgia give Florida competition in the East? (No.) Can all of LSU’s young talent on offense gel in time for key October games against Georgia, Florida and Auburn? (Hopefully.) Can Steve Spurrier get to .500 in SEC play as coach of the Gamecocks? (At three games under, it is not looking good.)

Are we so used to the quality play in the conference that we need off-the-field nonsense to keep our interest? Let’s watch some football, beginning tomorrow night in Columbia. After all, what is the over/under on the number of times ESPN talks about Mississippi’s need for revenge for last season’s 31-24 South Carolina victory?