April 10, 2012

Urban Meyer: I Wouldn't Let My Son Go to Florida: Ohio State coach Urban Meyer told a top recruit's family that he wouldn't let his son go to Florida because of character issues in the locker room, multiple sources told Sporting News. At least 30 players were arrested in Meyer’s six seasons in Florida, including many of his top athletes, and players often went undisciplined. Wide receiver Percy Harvin physically assaulted wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales, grabbing him by the neck and throwing him to the ground, sources said. Harvin was never punished.

posted by rcade to football at 12:16 PM - 16 comments

I'd like to see someone interview Tebow substantively and incisively on the Meyer years in Gainesville.

posted by beaverboard at 01:40 PM on April 10, 2012

I'll bet Tebow will tell you it was "exciting" times, and that he was "excited" to part of an "exciting" team playing in "exciting" games.

posted by grum@work at 01:54 PM on April 10, 2012

grum What would you like him to say? I don't think Tebow is a vindictive person, or at least he doesn't come across that way. He isn't any different than other athletes to talk a lot but say little.

posted by steelergirl at 03:25 PM on April 10, 2012

Agree. Tebow is much more intelligent than most high-profile athletes/coaches, and it bothers people and writers that he can't be goaded into saying stupid things. The big-mouth idiot who coaces the Marlins could learn some things from Tebow, but he's most-likely too stupid to learn.

posted by dyams at 05:04 PM on April 10, 2012

What would you like him to say? I don't think Tebow is a vindictive person, or at least he doesn't come across that way. He isn't any different than other athletes to talk a lot but say little.

I'd like him to have a press conference where he doesn't say the word "excited" (or variations like "exciting") over forty times.

Jeez. It was just a joke.

posted by grum@work at 08:25 PM on April 10, 2012

How exciting.

posted by NoMich at 08:34 PM on April 10, 2012

I stand second to few in my disdain for Urban Meyer, but nothing here is particularly damning. Of course he trashes his old program when it serves his current program. I'd expect nothing less from a coach at one of the highest-profile programs in the country.

posted by Etrigan at 09:27 PM on April 10, 2012

Urban also said he wouldn't allow his daughter to play for the Arkansas Volleyball team.

posted by cixelsyd at 11:52 PM on April 10, 2012

grum, yeah, I have to agree with you there. There did seem to be a lot of "exciteds". Didn't mean my comment as a snark. Maybe he needs a thesaurus.

posted by steelergirl at 12:53 AM on April 11, 2012

If there are character issues in the locker room, it his a result of his leadership. I wonder how long it will take for things to blow up at OSU?

posted by FonGu at 05:47 AM on April 11, 2012

Ohio State is college football's bastion of good character.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 09:02 AM on April 11, 2012

Ohio State is college football's bastion of good character.

Have to agree. Maurice Clarett was quite a character.

posted by NerfballPro at 09:09 AM on April 11, 2012

Ohio State didn't hire Urban Meyer to clean up the locker room. They don't care about cleaning up the locker room. Three to five years of some do-gooder refusing to recruit receivers with drug busts and linemen who don't know that "No means No" will do way more damage to the brand than another one-year bowl ban in 2022 after five Rose Bowls and a BCS title game.

posted by Etrigan at 09:21 AM on April 11, 2012

All big-time D-1 football programs are full of crap. If they aren't, then their transgressions haven't been caught or they aren't winning/competitive. I'm more and more convinced that to win these days in NCAA Division 1 football you need a slimebag coach and a roster dominated mostly by players with major personality and behavior concerns. Urban Meyer was part of this problem, and it may be part of the reason he had to walk away a few years ago. Whether or not he wants to be a part of it, he'll find himself consumed in it again at Ohio State before he knows it.

posted by dyams at 09:25 AM on April 11, 2012

I stand second to few in my disdain for Urban Meyer, but nothing here is particularly damning.

Only if you accept a shameless lack of character from big-time college coaches.

Exploiting the character problems you created by letting players run wild at your old job is perfect. Meyer knows how the game is played.

posted by rcade at 09:40 AM on April 11, 2012

Only if you accept a shameless lack of character from big-time college coaches.

I wouldn't say I accept it, but Meyer has never been put up as a Paterno-(pre-2011)-level paragon. This story is just another nut on his sundae. Not even a cherry.

posted by Etrigan at 11:51 AM on April 11, 2012

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