Rumor Alert: Could Urban Meyer Really be Headed to Notre Dame?

We’ve all heard the chatter. We’ve all read the articles. We’ve even heard

Urban Meyer

himself say

Notre Dame

is still the dream job (and then backtrack…sort of). But it’s still all just a bunch of speculative rumors. Is that redundant? Aren’t rumors, by definition, speculative? Have I shifted focus away from the point of this article? Anyway…

I have a source. Like so many people out there, I too have a source. Can I say who that source is? Not really. But not because I’m protecting their confidentiality. Because I honestly don’t know the person. It’s one of those “a friend of a friend of someone’s brother knows someone who went to camp with Meyer’s cousin and now lives down the street from some graduate assistant” sort of thing. So basically, it doesn’t really matter who the person is. It doesn’t even matter if we believe them or not. What matters is the “what if.” What if what this person claims to know is true? What do the Gators do next if this were to really happen?

I’ll start with telling you what I’ve heard. The rumor is after the season Meyer will announce he’s leaving Florida for Notre Dame. Again, let’s not focus on who said this and if it really is true, because we honestly have no idea. For all I know, this source could be making this up, but there’s always that small possibility it could be 100% real as well. So instead of attempting to find out if Meyer really is leaving to coach the Fighting Irish (because there’s virtually no way I could be privy to that information anyway), I’m going to focus on the options for the Gators if and when he does leave.

Let me start by saying, I don’t believe we’ll see Meyer on the Florida sideline for many more years. I do think he believes Notre Dame is his dream job. And as soon as Charlie Weis has worn out his welcome, ND will do everything they can to ensure Urban is their next coach.

In four years, Meyer has led the Gators to two national championship games. What more does he have to prove with Florida? He undid the damage done by Ron Zook. Continually brought in major talent. And took over the state. Look at his overall resume with the Gators and it’s not necessarily as impressive as what the mid-90s brought, but two title game appearances in the past three years is worthy of legend status. So what keeps him here? Well, the ability to stay with one of the top programs in the nation. But remember, Urban isn’t a Florida guy. He didn’t grow up a Gator fan and didn’t always want to coach in Gainesville. It’s not his dream job. So if Notre Dame comes calling again (remember they did four years ago, but he opted for a stint with Florida first), he’ll definitely listen. All this adds up to me believing – baring Weis rattling off some ridiculous winning streak over the next few years – Meyer will be in South Bend within the next five years.

But we’re really talking about the now. What if Meyer leaves in only a few short days? Oddly enough Florida is probably in almost the same situation they were in seven years ago. The top of the list most likely includes the same two names it did back then. Bob Stoops and Mike Shanahan. This time around, neither has as much of a reason to not come to the Gators.

Stoops has turned Oklahoma back into a perennial power. He got his 10-year check and now he has his Sooners in the title game. If they don’t win the national championship this year, he has an easier out. But even if they do, winning two titles since he arrived may make it almost as easy to leave. What else can he do there? There was talk when Stoops was approached about the UF job seven years ago he said he wanted to return to Florida one day, but it just wasn’t the time. Now might be the time.

As for Shanahan. That’s easy. He’s out of a job. If he somehow is higher than Stoops on the list (which I doubt he is), he would almost certainly sign on in a second.

But what about that third option? Unfortunately for all of us, seven years ago it was Zook. This time around it might actually be another guy who’s held the title of Florida defensive coordinator. Charlie Strong. What’s not to like about Strong? Wonderful guy. Good character. Great recruiter. He may not have the experience as the top guy, but he’s been in the system for a while now and deserves a shot somewhere.

In the end, we really don’t know if Meyer is leaving in five days or in five years. We can speculate all we want, but until we hear from Urban himself, it’s all just rumors. But it’s nice to know that this time around Florida is in a much better situation in terms of replacements than it was after Steve Spurrier moved on.