Urban Meyer and Ohio State

                It was recently announced that Urban Meyer will become the new head coach for The Ohio State University football team.  It was rumored in the news prior to Thanksgiving that he would be the next coach. He was originally going to be a telecaster for the Ohio State-Michigan game, but he was removed from the cast when work got out that he would be announced as coach.

                He was officially hired as coach on November 28^th in a press conference in Columbus. He will become one of the highest paid football coaches in the country.  His contract states that he will make close to seven million dollars annually for six years.

                Meyer has been a pretty prominent name in NCAA football for several years. His latest coaching job was as head coach for the University of Florida. However, he “retired” from coaching at the end of the 2010 season. He claimed he was retired for health and family concerns.

                Meyer an Ohio native started his coaching career in Ohio. He originally started coaching at St. Xavier High School near Cincinnati before moving as an assistant coach at Ohio State. From there he held various assistant and head coaching jobs before returning to OSU.  

                At the moment, I do not know what to think about the Buckeyes or Meyer. I have grown up as die-hard Buckeye with both my dad and grandfather being Ohio State Alumni.  I was always a huge Jim Tressel fan and loved watching the Bucks when he was coach. My only problem with Meyer is I associate him with the University of Florida and I don’t like that team or their SEC conference.

                I was shocked (but not necessarily surprised) when the whole tattoo scandal came up in Columbus but I think the university did what it had to do and there is nothing wrong with that. However, I think that they did not give Luke Fickell a chance. I think they just threw him in as coach because they had no one else. Not to mention that he was working essentially with a completely new team because most of the starters were suspended. 

                All I do know is that it will be an interesting year because what I have found is that there is a huge divide in Buckeye fans over Meyer being the coach. Some are extremely enthusiastic while others are turning against the team. I guess its just a matter of time to see what happens and with all Ohio sports “There is always next year.”