Urban Meyer Again Puts His Headset Down, But Is It For Good This Time?
Urban Meyer has announced his retirement but will it last this time?
Last Tuesday Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer announced that he will retire from the team after the Rose Bowl against Washington. Meyer who had a record of 82-9 with three bowl wins including a national championship and was also undefeated against arch-rival Michigan. Meyer also announced that offensive coordinator Ryan Day who served as the interim head coach during Meyer's suspension earlier this season would become the new head coach.
The timing of the announcement has been somewhat of a surprise but anyone who has followed the Buckeye's season and the last couple of months of Meyer could see the writing on the wall. With everything that had happened with the handling of the firing of Zach Smith and how poorly Meyer came away looking had some people calling for his job right then and there. But Meyer's health was also taking a toll on him this season.
Since 2014, he has been battling a cyst in his brain where he will get extremely intense headaches at any moment. This year more than others, Meyer was visibly showing how much pain he was going through. Meyer mentioned in his press conference that he had first thought about retiring due to his health in a game last season against Penn State.
Now Meyer has officially retired and will ride off into the sunset. Or will he?
This isn't the first time Meyer has considered calling it quits, and when he did it never lasted very long. Meyer had first resigned at Florida back in 2009 after a loss in the SEC championship to Alabama citing a medical scare and that he wanted to spend more time with his family. But Meyer ended up returning to coach the Gators for the 2010 season, leading them to an 8-5 record and then retiring — seemingly for good — at the completion of that season. Yet two seasons later Meyer takes the job at his alma mater Ohio State and now here we are.
To be candid about the whole situation, I don't think this retirement stint will last very long either. I don't know the extent or possible treatment for Meyer's medical condition but what was evident throughout this season was that he needed some time off. After that, I think that he will be right back in the mix looking to coach again. Look he's only 54 years old and has won at every place he's gone too. As much as I hate to say it, Urban Meyer is a damn good coach and if (let's be honest "when") there will be multiple schools or maybe even professional teams knocking on his door.
Julio Jones
David Johnson
