By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
Former Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer may be the hot commodity in terms of college football coaches looking for a job. Yet, two teams will battle for his services.
Both of these teams are trying to recover from a scandal that’s rocked their school, community, and the Big Ten Conference. Both Ohio State and Penn State are going to target Meyer to be their next head coach.
But he’s never taken over a college program that’s recovering from a scandal. Ohio State had to deal with an illegal benefits scandal that cost the football program it’s head coach and best player, Terrelle Pryor.
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The Buckeyes were forced to name Luke Fickell interim head coach after Jim Tressel resigned from his position once it was revealed that he tried to cover up the memorabilia for tattoos and cash scams that several Ohio State football players were involved in.
Now, Penn State is currently embroiled in a child sex abuse scandal that has rocked the school to its core after it was revealed that the former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky did horrible things to little kids. The scandal has forced Joe Paterno, the face of the athletic department for decades, to retire after this season, in addition to causing the Athletic Director and Interim Senior Vice President of Business and Finance to leave their positions at the school.
The President is expected to leave, too. Both coaches did not take serious action when they knew about the allegations.
As a result, their legacies have been tainted forever. Meyer has not commented on the allegations yet.
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He will have to comment on Saturday. He will be calling the Nebraska vs. Penn State football game in State College, Pennsylvania.
This will allow Meyer to get a first-hand look at Beaver Stadium and the fan base. Meyer is already familiar with the Ohio State campus and should remember what it’s like to coach there.
He was a graduate assistant coach — first the tight end coach, then the wide receivers coach in 1986 and 1987. In addition, he received a Master’s Degree in Sports Administration from The Ohio State University, while being a graduate assistant.
Yet, it all comes back to Penn State in his coaching career. The last game that Meyer ever coached was when the Gators faced the Nittany Lions.
The Gators were able to defeat the Nittany Lions 37-24 in the 2011 Outback Bowl in Florida. A few months later, Paterno and Tressel are without jobs and Meyer is being called upon to replace both guys.
Nobody would have thought that before these scandals came to light. Both of these teams are looking to change their image with Meyer.
The man that has won two national championships in the past six years while at Florida. Meyer has as many national championships as Paterno had in 46 years at Penn State.
Paterno won his two championships in 1982 and 1986. Tressel won one national championship in 2002 at Ohio State.
In 10 seasons as a head coach, Meyer has a career win-loss record of 104-23. He has a .819 win percentage.
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He also has a 7-1 bowl game mark. The only loss came against the University of Michigan on January 1st, 2008.
In all-time meetings against Big Ten schools, he is 2-1. He has beaten Penn State and Ohio State. The Gators defeated the Buckeyes in the 2006 BCS National Championship game.
Now, Meyer has to do some heavy thinking about where he wants to coach next. He has to also decide where his run-first spread offense will fit better in the coming weeks.
Only time will tell his answer.
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