I like the hire. Guy has won everywhere but I wonder how much looming sanctions are going to hurt him. I think Hoke may out recruit him on his home turf. Nice to see U of M kind of back. I wont say they are all the way back until they are on par as the best team in the state. Looking forward to the Big Ten making some noise nationally in the coming years.
I just wonder if the health/stress problems he had at UF that led him to nearly retiring once (1 day?), a three month leave of absence and then an actual retirement later are going to reappear. An interesting quote of his (I read today) from last year when he resigned from Fla.
Urban Meyer, December 8th 2010:
“But what I didn’t want to have happen, and I made this clear to Jeremy (Florida AD), if I am able to go coach, I want to coach at one place, the University of Florida. It would be a travesty, it would be ridiculous to all of a sudden come back and get the feeling back, get the health back, feel good again and then all of a sudden go throw some other colors on my shirt and go coach? I don’t want to do that. I have too much love for this University and these players and for what we’ve built.”
He is one of those guys who just grinds too much. I think he would be better off hiring a great O and D coordinator and just worry about recruiting and letting things unfold. If he gets too emotionally invested, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get sick again. Stress is nasty is you don’t control it. Not fair to his family. We will see how hard the NCAA steps on OSU. It could be a pressure cooker from day 1.
I like Urban and think he’s a good coach, however he didn’t leave much to work with in Florida. I know, I know, they are loaded with 4 and * players, however they cannot hang with the other teams loaded with 4 and 5*.
This isn’t a one year thing either, they have been trending downward since Tebow graduated.
Ditto for Texas…WTF is up there? They get the pick of the litter and struggle to have a winning season.
Speedcoach I’m like you I like the hire. As for the recruiting war Im now sure who will win the state of Michigan. Keep in mind there’s alot of kids who would love to play for Urban Meyer so it will be interesting to see. As for the big 10 making national noise, yeah I definately think thats happening
Big 10 will make noise until championship time.
Wasn’t always the case and will likely change again. I have always thought that bowl games favor the southern teams. They are fast track type of teams. Big Ten is a more power, less speed overall conference. That being said, I would like to see Bama and LSU play Wisconsin or MSU in November at Camp Randall or Spartan Stadium. I have a gut feeling the cold might play a strong factor in the outcome. Hurts a helluva lot more getting drilled in 30 degree weather instead of sunny and 60.
I can’t wait to see what USC can do next year, especially if Barkley comes back. Speed all over the field.
20 years ago it may not have been an SEC team, however the dominant teams were largely southern, aka Miami, Fla St, etc. throw in a few Big 12 and USC.
I think the big thing is for a long time many thought you couldn’t championships in the SEC because the competition was high and you could not win enough games. Bobby Bowden said this when Fla St. was debating SEC or ACC and he wanted them to pick ACC.
MSU got annihilated by Bama last year. Maybe the cold would make a difference but the warmth helps both. Lets not act like the MSU kids “enjoy” the cold.
USC was not dominant in the 80s and 90s. The top teams of the 80s and 90s were Penn State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Florida St, Miami, Oklahoma, along with a few good years from BYU, Colorado, Washington, Alabama, and Florida.
What goes around comes around, it is the nature of the game. But warm-weather teams do have an advantage.
I didn’t say USC was dominant in the 80’s or 90’s. I was implying they had a string of dominance within the last 20 years and they did.
OH, Michigan, Notre Dame, BYU, CO were not dominant in the 80’s or 90’s or now. Nothing close to SEC over the last decade or Miami, Florida State. I pointed out the Big 12 teams already.
USC’s “string of dominance” has been from 2002-2011, not 20 years.
Ohio St from 79-99 had only 4 seasons of less than 8 wins, and no school has a better record from 1979-2010. I’m not sure what the definition of “String of Dominance” is, but that might fit the bill.
Michigan won 80% of its games from 1970-1999. Ever heard of a guy named Bo Schembechler? That’s better than Florida St with Bobby Bowden, far far better than Miami and Alabama over the same period.
Notre Dame has had several down years but the Lou Holtz Era of 1987-1996 produced 5 10+ win seasons 2 9 win seasons and 2 8 win seasons.
BYU had only 2 seasons of less than 8 wins from 1976-1999. Look up LaVell Edwards. Also won a National Championship and a Heisman Trophy.
Colorado in the 80s with Don James at the helm was an excellent squad, winning 75% of its games and the 1990 National Championship.
There was more to the 80s and 90s than FSU and Miami. A lot more. And where are they now? As I said, things come and go.
Python
Just in the interest of keeping facts straight - Bill McCartney was the Colorado HC in 1990 for the title. Don James was the Washington HC in 1991 when they won the title by defeating Michigan in the Rose Bowl…
Not a big deal, but I’m big into football 
Actually, let’s make sure this is a fair comparison. Bo Schembechler stopped coaching in 1989. Bowden’s best string went from 1987 - 2000, when his WORST year was 10-2!
It all depends upon what year to wish to start the evaluation…FWIW - I’m not a fan of either team…
I’m not trying to make direct comparisons on which teams are better or worse; I’m merely noting that great success has been found at many schools in recent history, North, South, East, and West. My mistake on the coaches, thanks for pointing that out!
I think that warm weather is nice, but it is more important to have good coaches (a common theme above regardless of which school you look at), good recruits, and good player development.
Python - Agreed!