Former Ohio State, Florida coach Urban Meyer reveals the one place he refused to hire players
During his time as head coach at both Florida and Ohio State, Urban Meyer was known as a crazy competitor who needed to win as badly as he needed to breathe.
That desire to win has extended to campaigns far away from the football field, most popular on the recruiting trail.
Meyer’s competitiveness in recruiting talent earned him the position of ace guard, as he landed several top classes in both Gainesville and Columbus, including his 2010 class at Florida, which at the time was the most recruited class in the history of the game.
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow shares a laugh with coach Urban Meyer during the fourth quarter of a college football game against Kentucky in Gainesville, Fla., on Oct. 25, 2008. (Phil Sandlin/AP)
While he was one of the best recruiters of his time, and there are plenty of stories to back up that claim, Meyer shared a tale on “The Triple Option” podcast about one district he vowed to never again try to poach talent from during his time as a college football coach.
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“When I was the head coach at Florida we were playing Louisiana, and we’d get on the dance floor with a great player and he wouldn’t come,” Meyer said. “So I said ‘enough is enough.’ I never fly to Louisiana again. I’m fine.”
The former Gators and Buckeyes head coach would go on to say it was an easy decision to make while at Florida because there were enough talented options in the Sunshine State and nearby Georgia as it was.
“There are enough good players in Georgia and Florida that I’m not going to beat my face against the wall and go to Louisiana.”
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Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer celebrates with the trophy after defeating the Washington Huskies in the 2019 Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 2019. (Robert Hanashiro/USA TODAY Sports)
Meyer would go on to acknowledge that Nick Saban had some success going into the bayou and nabbing some of the players he wanted, though part of that could be due to his previous relationship with LSU.
Everything coach Meyer said is consistent with what I have said many times over the past few months about the players from the state of Louisiana.
It can be one of the most difficult situations to scout for talented players, and it’s hard to lure kids to LSU from their home state if you don’t have a head coach in charge.
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That’s why LSU director of athletics Verge Ausberry made the comments he did about head coach Brian Kelly, and why they went and hired Ed Orgeron as their recruiting director.
LSU Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron celebrates with quarterback Joe Burrow after their win against the Clemson Tigers in the College Football Playoff national championship game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. (Matthew Emmons/Imagn Images)
Urban Meyer won three national championships in his illustrious career, but he wouldn’t dare fly to The Boot to try to lure the Tigers with his hometown talent.
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The fact that Coach O and LSU are back together again probably means more coaches should listen to Meyer, as Louisiana may be closed to outsiders for the foreseeable future.
Good luck trying to get the Louisiana native out of Orgeron’s clutches and the Bayou Bengals going forward.
