Keep in mind that public denials of this nature mean absolutely nothing until Ohio State University (or any other big time program) makes its hire and holds the press conference.
But at least for now, former Florida Gators coach Urban Meyer is on the record denying that he has agreed to take over the Buckeyes.
Rumors flew last week that the deal was done and that Meyer had already visited Columbus and that there was already a contract in place.
Per GatorSports.com’s Pat Dooley—about as reliable of a reporter as you’ll find—Meyer says there is no deal in place because there’s been no offer made.
The former Florida head football coach told The Sun he never interviewed for the Arizona job and has not interviewed for the Ohio State job. And if the Ohio State job is offered, the same issues that caused him to step away from coaching this past year are still in play.
“The concerns are still there,” Meyer told The Sun. “No. 1 — my health. No. 2 — my family. No. 3 — the state of college football. I've done some research into the second one. I've found that it is possible to have balance between your job and your family, that there are coaches out there who are doing it.
“I'm in a good place right now mentally and physically. So if something happens with Ohio State, I'll have a decision to make. But there has been no interview. There has been no offer to make a decision about.”
ElevenWarriors.com—a prominent Buckeyes blog—posted last week that there was mutual interest between Meyer and Ohio State and that an agreement in principle had been worked out. EW also reported that the two parties were in agreement over waiting to hear the NCAA’s final verdict on the TattooGate scandal that cost former OSU coach Jim Tressel his job, and that Meyer had already made some decisions on staffing. To wit, Meyer was believed to be all but certain to take current LSU offensive coordinator with him. The two have coached together at Bowling Green.
Stay tuned—one way or another, Ohio State is almost certain to have a new coach at the Horseshoe and the deal will likely get done next month. Will it be Meyer?
It looks like remains to be seen. But keep in mind that if Ohio State decides to reach out to an existing head coach and Penn State goes shopping as well, the 2010-11 Coaching Carousel is set to spin like an Iranian Centrifuge.
0 comments :
Post a Comment
You must have a Google Account to post a comment.
WARNING: Posting on this blog is a privilege. You have no First Amendment rights here. I am the sole, supreme and benevolent dictator. This blog commenting system also has a patented Dumbass Detector. Don't set it off.