Urban Meyer is coming home to Gainesville this weekend for Florida’s matchup against rival Tennesse, but could it mean more? Of course, there’s the speculation because a former coach is returning to his old stomping grounds, has a vacancy open, and fans liked his success.
While it’s always fun to join in on the speculation conversation with Gator fans alike, the truth is, no, Meyer is not coming back to Florida as a potential “returning coach turned potential coach visit.” Though he has come up in conversation as a potential suitor for teams with head coach vacancies, including the Florida Gators, where he spent six years of his coaching career, Meyer has stated that he does not have an interest in returning to coaching at this time. So that ends that.
Urban Meyer returns to The Swamp
But, Urban Meyer will be back in The Swamp Saturday to be honored for what he DID accomplish during his six seasons the University of Florida (2005-2010), along with his time at Bowling Green State University (2001-2002), the University of Utah (2003-2004), and most recently Ohio State University (2012-2018). He will be honored by the National Football Foundation with an on-campus salute for his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. During this salute event, he will receive a plaque that will be displayed at the University of Florida and honor his accomplishments, which included leading quarterback Tim Tebow and the Gators to two National Championships.
During his time at Bowling Green, he led the team to become the first Mid-American Conference (MAC) team to go 3-0 against BCS opponents in a single season (2001).
While at Utah from 2003-2004, he led them to their first 12-0 undefeated season since 1930, took the school to their first-ever BCS Bowl Game playing in the Fiesta Bowl in 2004, and also helped the team win their first back-to-back Mountain West Conference titles in league history. It was in 2003 that Utah finished No. 21 in the AP poll with a win in the Liberty Bowl. Then in 2004, he led them to their first No. 4 AP Poll finish and the Fiesta Bowl.
Then it was on to the Florida Gators for the Meyer family. Gator fans remember the Tim Tebow/ Meyer era. He won two national championships as mentioned above (2006, 2008), and two Southeast Conference (SEC) titles in 2006 and 2008. He had a historic 65-15 record with the Gators that at one point included a 22-game winning streak.
After Meyers’s six seasons in Gainesville, he took a year off before heading north to Ohio, where he led the Ohio State Buckeyes to three Big Ten Championships in 2014, 2017, and 2018. He also led the team to a national title in 2014, which made him the only coach in the modern era to win a national championship in two different conferences and one of two to do it at different schools. While at Ohio State, he had an 83-9 record through seven seasons and had a first-place divisional finish in each of those seven years. Meyer and the Buckeyes were 54-4 in the Big Ten and won an NCAA-best 30 straight conference games.
Beyond the NCAA, Meyer also spent a short amount of time with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Off the field, Meyer has been a part of the Veterans Golfers Association, Folds of Honor, the Tim Tebow Foundation, and he and his wife established the Urban and Shelley Meyer Fund for Cancer Research. That is located at Ohio State University’s Cancer Center.
Meyer is already a member of the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame and Ashtabula County Football Hall of Fame.
This Saturday he will continue to achieve history with his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Along with Meyer, former Gators Jemalle Corneius and Andre Caldwell are expected to be in attendance on Saturday as well.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 PM. The Swamp is sold out, and though the Gators have not lived up to expectations on the field, you can expect the Gator fan faithful to continue to be rocking and living up to their motto of “In all kinds of weather.”