Urban Sellout

So yesterday morning the news we all knew was coming broke, Urban Meyer was heading to Ohio State. The rumors caught fire last week that the move was happening, and Meyer quickly denied them. But who did he think he was fooling. Nowadays ESPN doesn't just post baseless rumors on its home page, if they ever did. Urban could say what he wanted, but when the contract specifications started getting released everyone knew what was coming. Deny it as much as we wanted to, Florida fans had to come to grips with the fact that Meyer was going to become a Buckeye. And that his legacy at UF would never be the same.

Now granted, this isn't a move as tarnishing to a man's legacy like the whole Joe Paterno ordeal. But Meyer doesn't come out of this looking good at all. If Meyer had waited a few years, or gone to an NFL team to try his hand in the professional circuit it would have looked a whole lot better than it does now. Instead Meyer chose to head for OSU less than a year after calling it quits on UF, a decision that has left the fans at UF confused and disappointed. In a matter of one week the fans that would have defended Meyer's honor to their grave, were labeling him a sellout. Which honestly is a label that suits him well. Just ask the fans at the University of Utah, who will simply give the fans wearing Gator orange and blue a sympathetic "I told you so" smile and welcome them to their support group. Really we should have seen this coming, this is the same man who left Utah with a record of 22-2 to go coach the Florida Gators. Why did the fans at UF think he would treat the Gators differently?

Simply put, Urban Meyer's heart left UF when Tim Tebow graduated. He gave us a preview of things to come when he announced his leave of absence during Tebow's senior year. To recap, after getting out coached in the SEC Championship game by the king of sellouts, Nick Saban (I'm a bitter Dolphins fan), it was reported that Meyer was admitted to the hospital with chest pains. Which followed with him telling everyone he was ok, which was followed with him resigning as the UF coach, then coming back, then taking a leave of absence. A sequence of events that left everyone very confused about what was actually going on with Urban Meyer.

Fast Forward to the last year's offseason. Meyer announces that he is going to be on the sidelines for the season. Florida fans rejoice, but not with as much enthusiasm. They had already seen that Urban Meyer's coaching status was as concrete as a Kim Kardashian relationship status (yes, I did just go there). The post-Tebow Gators quickly showed that the proverbial ceiling had been reached for Meyer's Gators and the future was not so bright. His spread offense that Tebow ran to perfection looked boring and unimaginative under the direction of John Brantley, the sloppy rebound to the long relationship that was the Tebow era at UF. The team went on to a 7 - 5 regular season record, the mediocre record being punctuated by a blowout loss to FSU in the last game. Meyer stepped down shortly after, this time for good. The Gators started making the rounds for a replacement coach.

Once again it was clear, his heart had left UF. Anyone that doubted that then should realize it now. Because if it was really about spending time with his family, I wouldn't be writing this article now. But instead Meyer takes on the brand of a sellout. He took UF to the height of what they could accomplish with him and then he abandoned ship when the momentum started to shift. Leaving a floundering program in his wake. Ohio State fans should look at this and pay attention. They should prepare themselves for what they are getting. Urban Meyer has always brought Wins with him. But he has never been good at staying. Ask the people at both the University of Utah and the University of Florida. He is good at what he does, but he also joins an ever growing list of sellout coaches in the process. So enjoy him while you can OSU fans, and we will be here with a tissue and an "I told you so" when he leaves for greener pastures in 5 years.

Until Next Time Readers

Jordan