Urban Meyer is one of the best to ever do it in coaching, but should he be a big part of Penn State football’s search?
The coaching carousel is at a fever pitch and Penn State is well in the middle of it with their coaching search well underway.
Less than a year removed from a College Football Playoff Semifinal run, Penn State is in a tailor made position to have success with its coaching hire.
Let’s take a look at some of the candidates and why it makes sense or doesn’t for both the candidate and the program:
Urban Meyer – Fox Sports
Stop if you’ve heard this before: Urban bought a house in Boalsburg …
While he was close to becoming head coach previously, Meyer and Penn State have been linked since the job came open. A lot has changed since Meyer prowled the sidelines in Columbus with Ohio State. He had a failed experiment with the Jacksonville Jaguars and has not stayed scandal free.
Pros for Penn State
- Meyer’s record speaks for itself. He’s won everywhere he’s been in college and won a lot. Adding a coach of his caliber would be huge.
- He’s available now. Recruits are decommiting at alarming rates and handling the recruiting end of things is far from easy with only an interim coach.
- Getting Meyer certainly says AD Pat Kraft is all on making Penn State football take the next step.
Cons for Penn State
- While Meyer has won, scandals have been just as frequent. The last thing the athletic department needs is to be mired in scandal again.
- Has the game passed him by? Meyer hasn’t coached in the college ranks since the 2018 season when he led the Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl after not being selected for the College Football Playoff. The game is much different than then and it’s not certain whether he’s kept up with the times.
- Hiring Meyer would move the needle, but how long would he be around? He’s 61 years old and not getting any younger.
Pros for Urban
- Meyer finally gets the job he was seeking after leaving Florida. His journey comes full circle and it gets him back on the sidelines.
- One more chance to cement your legacy and at a place he had success as an opposing coach.
- It allows him to go head-to-head against Ryan Day and Ohio State in recruiting and on the field.
Cons for Urban
- Can his health hold up? His health has been an issue at both Florida and Ohio State. Would that be the case at Penn State if things go awry?
- Media isn’t all too bad. He’s got a nice setup with Big Noon, his podcast and his business ventures. Why bother getting back into the game?
- Would his tenure at Penn State tarnish his reputation and already College Football Hall of Fame career?
Meyer is such an enigma in college football. He has won and won and won, but scandals and health issues have been right there with him every step of the way. Does he still have what it takes? Only his hiring would tell. It does speak volumes this seems to be the only place he’s linked to in the carousel, but it’s highly doubtful he’d end up at Penn State even with the convenience it would create.
Could he be a general manager type? That could be an option as well, but as a head coach, I don’t see it unless he blew Kraft and company away in his interviews.
