Florida may face Urban Meyer annually if college job opens up
The marriage between Willie Taggart and Florida State seems headed for a divorce, but no one knows when it will be final. With the Seminoles standing 3-4 after a 22-20 loss to Wake Forest this past Saturday, the fan base is growing a bit weary of the amount of losing that has gone on under Taggart.
With a bunch of names being thrown around as possible replacements in Tallahassee, one popped up recently that would be major news in the college football world if hired: Urban Meyer.
Yes, that same Urban Meyer that spent six years in Gainesville coaching the Florida Gators to two national championships before exiting and taking the Ohio State coaching job, helping lead the Buckeyes to a national title as well until retiring after last season.
According to Football Scoop, the powers that be at Florida State are aiming for the sky by going after Meyer as a possible replacement. Despite his insistence that he retired to spend more time with his family and the coach going into television this season — something that he is certainly good at, Meyer’s name has been linked to a number of jobs such as USC that, in the end, would make more sense for the 55-year-old coach.
Enter your email below and we will send you the Florida records graphic to be used for your phone background.
By adding your email address, you agree to receive emails with Florida football related news. You can unsubscribe at any time.
The program at Florida State is an absolute mess right now and the rebuilding job would require several years to return the Seminoles back to being conference and national title contenders. Yet, this is Urban Meyer and, if FSU were to throw enough money at him, they might be able to get him in garnet and gold.
This would not be popular with his fans in Gainesville, that is for sure.
It’s a joke. His buyout is 17 million AFTER this season is over and FSU’s financial woes are well documented. Plus, you’ve got to buy off all his staff and THEN come up with a way to pay Meyer and all the staff HE’S going to want. Their athletic department has a deficit of a couple million dollars in 2017-2018.
Actually, the FSU Boosters are putting their heads together to see if the buyout is possible. While I’d love to have Meyer at FSU, I seriously doubt he would come here due to his relationship with UF. I didn’t like him for the longest time but listening to him as a broadcaster changed my opinion. Listening to his observations shows why he’s such a great coach. Dang, he would be perfect for FSU.
For the sake of reigniting a heated rivalry to the level it once was, I’d love to see this happen. I don’t like FSU at all and don’t think this will happen anyway, but it would be great for college football to have Dan Mullen coaching against his mentor in one of college football’s biggest rivalries. Not to mention Urban would have to coach against Dabo every year.
If this happened, Dabo would be shaking in his little ole me coaching shoes.
Just like Dabo does against Nicky?
Seriously doubt Dabo would be shaking with fear at the prospect of coaching against Urbs. Remember, he is the one who put the 0 in Ohio.
Sure he would…so would Nick Saban, Dabo Swinney and even Steve Spurrier but it it ain’t gonna happen. Dabo and Nick have as much interest in it as Urban would…get real
Not going to happen. If his health issues couldn’t handle the stress at a winning program like OSU, then there’s no way they could take a complete rebuild at a program like FSU. Far too much stress. If he gets back into coaching it’s going to be at a ready to win program.
That’s been his M.O. every time he’s moved, take over a program that already has the big pieces in place.
That’s just it, FSU has the athletes they just need a good coach(es) to lead them. FSU and UF are very similar in accumulating talent and are championship teams waiting to happen. I like what your new coach has done, impressive.
No just no.
Wait, you actually believe his “health issues”? Lol, that’s great. Urban Liar has been juuust fine. His MO is running when the going gets tough, claiming it’s for health reasons, then immediately taking a job when a good one comes open. Most think he’s headed for the USC job, but that’s also going to be a rebuild so I don’t think there’s a tremendous difference between FSU and USC at this point. I’d say USC is the most likely destination.
Didn’t believe it when he left UF, but there was no hiding it as OSU. It was obvious he was having problems on the sideline during games.
But he’s going to take yet another job despite the health problems?
Going get tough leave? Sounds more like Sabin MO then Urban Sabins best year in the Big 10 east he still got beat by Purdue and wisconsin , and other 4 years go .500. Go to Lsu find ease go to Miami fail again tuck tail run to Bama and roll like no other with lop sided advantage of having best recruiting while averaging 50 in schedule strength most year. And yet trails Urban and Dabo in winning percentage. Urban 3rd all time most winning coach in history of college football and was successful at all 4 teams and retired 3rd best team in nation. And only team in top 3 in 2018 not to have players busted for steroids.
Did you have a stroke while typing that incoherent response? ‘Go to LSU find ease’ ? I don’t know what that means, but LSU and Bama were terrible for a long time before Saban arrived so don’t act like those were easy jobs. Saban has been at Bama for 12 years and counting now. Where’s Urban Liar?
Really? Are you sure? FSU fans were telling me that the Taggert signing was much better then the Mullen signing and how much Florida was gonna regret it. I thought letting Jimbo go for Willie was gonna be the worst decision in FSU history. Are you telling me FSU fans were wrong? That can’t be.
They didn’t let Jimbo go for Willie. Jimbo left and they went after Willie. However, I also do not see this happening. Willie is a great coach and I believe he will get the program turned around. Many of those Jimbo recruited were not of good character and Willie holds his team accountable. All of them. While the cupboard was bare when he got there, a few have exited due to the accountability that he and his coaches have imposed.
The only accurate part of that post was the first 2 sentences.
Jimbo brought in 7 top ten classes and the last two were #11 and #16 in the nation. While WT has had a rough go and is dealing w a culture issue, the cupboard was hardly bare. I hope they give him an extension immediately…
Truth…
The cupboard is anything but bare at FSU. They are the 6th most talented team if ranking by recruiting classes with five 5 stars and thirty six 4 star recruits currently on the team. Absolutely no excuse for losing to the teams they lose to.
Then why did Jimbo lose at the end of his FSU stay? He was getting absolutely embarrassed and had a horrendous season before running away to A&M. Everyone seems to give him a pass on that for some reason.
Well, he had the players he wanted so you tell me. Seems Jimbo only ever won when he had a starting NFL QB, starting NFL receiver, starting NFL running back etc. Good coaches can win plenty of games with players that are not of that caliber.
Alatide, Jimbo basically gave up on the program long before he left. He pretty much had one foot out the door a few years before leaving and it actually looked like he might wind up at LSU before A&M. That doesn’t change the fact that he was bringing in top 5 classes and had a ton of talent in the locker room. HIs last 3 recruiting classes ranked 3, 3, and 6.
“Then why did Jimbo lose at the end of his FSU stay?” That’s the big question that should make everyone wonder. Top classes and yet both Jimbo, not Taggert struggled to win. People should start looking elsewhere for the answers at that point. People seem insistent on not bothering to learn the actual reasons for Jimbo leaving. Hint, it wasn’t about the money and it just might answer the questions about the team continuing to lose.
The cupboard was bare?? FSU had the 6th best roster in all of college football at the starting of this season. Try again.
Bamadad, where is the evidence to back up the claim that Taggart is a “great coach”? It certainly can’t be his 55-61 record or 0-1 bowl record. Are you basing this on the fact that he turned around a couple of lower tier programs that were so bad they really had nowhere to go but up? I view him as a coach similar to McElwain. He can have some success at less competitive schools, but he’s in way over his head running a power 5 program.
If you think Willie Taggart is even an average coach you haven’t watched FSU these past two years. Has top 10 talent and can’t even make it to a bowl game. But that’s what you get when you start hiring coaches based on skin color just for the sake of hiring a coach of a certain skin color.
I think it’s still too soon to judge Willie. Let him get his kind of players on the field
The fans that told you that are eating crow. I didn’t know what we were getting. But good coaches will make you at least competitive the first year. Kansas has had some bad games but a few good ones as well. Heck, I’d take Les Miles if we couldn’t get Meyer. I truly believe Meyer would win National Titles at FSU.
What a hot take! O my, Meyer, a guy who has won 3 NC’s would win a title at a place that’s similar in talent to UF but gets to play in the ACC? Who would possibly ever guess that would happen… Of course he would win at least one.
He ain’t going to FSU though, for a lot, A LOT of reasons. One of the least talked though is that his legacy matters a lot to him. Right now he’s eligible to be honored in UF’s Ring of Honor based on accomplishment (Which isn’t easy, only about 7 ppl have been honored ever. Percy Harvin doesn’t even qualify.) But there is one thing that has held him back from being honored. You have to be in good standing with the university. He’s been clearly trying to get back on UF’s good side (see: him doing a Gator chomp while walking in the tunnel wearing OSU gear in his last game coaching or all of the positive comments he’s made on TV about us over the past year or so). That would all be for not if he goes to coach UF’s archrival. Plus, he and Mullen are too close for him to want to do that to Mullen. He has basically his pick of a college to coach at, if he wants to come back so there’s no reason to go to FSU.
Not going to happen. As LawGator01 notes, FSU has their hands tied financially, in more ways than one.
But also, Meyer doesn’t do rebuilds. He walks into a strong roster the previous guy has built, brings in better assistants and just runs the program better. And he has an easier path to another NC and less competition for elite west coast recruits at Southern Cal. No Clemson to deal with. So if he coaches anywhere, he’s most likely to end up at USC.
Agreed, Nash.
I don’t think he’d go to FSU either but as I posted above, FSU is absolutely loaded on the roster. They just need coaching. It’s exactly the type of program he likes though maybe not one so mentally defeated. USC is a better choice.
Why butt heads with Clemson when you can coach in the Pac 12?
Agreed. The USC job screams Urban Myer.
Yeah there’s literally no competition there. I figured Chip Kelly would flourish.
Agree, no pressure from the fan base really. Unless USC is top #5 in the nation no one shows up to the Colosseum. They avg like 55,000 fans last year, too many “other things” going on in SoCal. Plus who is going to out recruit California over him? Answer: No one. Pete Carroll should everyone what USC could be with the right (shady) kind of coach.
It’s true that FSU has the sixth ranked roster in the 247 team talent composite, but their ranking is misleading. If you sort on position and look at the offensive linemen, you can see that their roster is very unbalanced, with a relative lack of talent on the offensive line.
Sort of like the roster imbalance that Muschamp created at Florida because he couldn’t recruit enough talent to the offense.
It’s also possible that the more talented players recruited by Fisher are just not buying into what Taggart is selling because frankly, Taggart doesn’t have any track record to give himself credibility.
I didn’t look any further into the roster than the ranking. I’ll agree that O-line may be the most important position but still. In the ACC with that talent and you can’t even go bowling? I’m with you that USC is a much easier start up though. Meyer won’t go to FSU for multiple reasons.
They should indeed be much better than they are.
I totally agree
Taeggert is getting it done They look like a team for the first time in five years. Wins to follow
lol
I’m a Dawgs fan and I don’t believe he’ll take the FSU job. Why? I know nothing about some of the points in the comments about FSU’s financials but from a win now perspective, it doesn’t make sense. Southern Cal does. As much football hate as I have for Meyer, he’s an unbelievable Coach and it did my heart real good to see him leave the SEC as well as Spurrier. (How do you have back to back 11 win seasons at South Carolina)? I am the rarest of Dawgs fan who hates Florida but loves Spurrier and Tebow. Should be a great game coming up in Jacksonville.
There’s a better chance of Meyer ending up in Dallas than Florida.
While that’s true, Jerry Jones likely will want Lincoln Riley. Meyer isn’t an offensive guru. Riley is.
I agree completely and actually feel Riley will be the next HC in Dallas next year.
Jones is not going to bring Riley in. Not going to happen!
Why wouldn’t he? Assuming of course you are talking about Stephen and not Jerry since he’s actually the one making the decisions now. Stephen is very good friends with Riley who grew up a huge Cowboys fan and still is today. Jerry is nothing more than the mouthpiece today, Jerry handed over the actual reins years ago.
Meyer runs the spread, has all of his career. The spread does not work in the NFL. See chip kelly.
Half the NFL runs mostly spread concepts now. It’s not the exact same as the spread in college, but very few NFL teams now don’t run the spread or something similar more frequently than not in the passing game. Just look at the Chiefs. They almost never have fewer than 3 receivers on the field, and usually have 4. And they have even incorporated the college concept of RPOs, which has taken the NFL by storm the past couple of years to the point that almost every team runs them. The Saints are another team that has been using the spread consistently in the passing game for years.
Oddly, this time around the NFL is leaning more towards becoming like college ball when it comes to offensive schemes. As kodyaufan2 said, they are throwing the ball around much more now and the spread is actually pretty common.
That’s actually probably accurate.
The ACC would sure love it, if for no other reason than the hope of making the conference something other than Dabo and the Thirteen Dwarfs.
Why even spend the time to write an article like this. Is the next article gonna be about the possibility of Bear Bryant rising from the dead to take over the Tennessee program?
Ok, I definitely laughed out loud.
No. General Neland.
He left Florida because he didn’t want to compete with Bama/Saban.
No way he wants to sign up to compete with Clemson/Dabo every year.
NEVER, And I Mean N-E-V-E-R ! Will THAT Happen…………..PROMISE !
I’d rather drop down to Div 2 than have him
Irregardless of whether Taggart stays (or) resigns(which is a good posssibility for a reduced buyout for him, as he might just be burned-out now)…. Urban does not take a “dumpster-fire” job…he is way too smart for that. And let’s face it…the $$$ for Urban is not a factor anymore. He’ll coach again, but not in Tally.
Taggart will have to be fired. He’ll never get another job like this, so he’s not about to resign.
USC is approaching dumpster fire status, if you don’t believe they already are, and most have penciled him in for that job.
But with a coach like Urban Meyer it wouldn’t take much for them to reclaim the throne out west in the lowly Pac-12. It would definitely be easier than having to deal with Dabo and Clemson every year at FSU.
Atleast that’s a job he may be interested in….FSU??? Give me a break
Would love the wins but not the arrests.
Why wouldn’t Florida State go after ‘our version of Stoops’ at Kentucky?
Last year’s SEC COACH OF The YEAR?
His buyout is only somewhere between $12 and 18 Million.
Heck, he could bring his staff and the ACC would learn just what it means to have a ruunimg game. Passing game always is around 100 to 104 but who needs to pass these days?
Clickbait article. It’s been well documented how much he loathed FSU while at Florida. Stories like he was so paranoid about FSU that he thought their fans were trying to poison him. He’s also been trying to get back into Gators fans good graces, doing Gator chomps after OSU games as well as things he’s said on air. There’s NO WAY he goes to FSU after all that. If anything it’s USC.
Yeah going to FSU, would be the equivalent of going to Michigan. Hell would freeze over before that happened.
Florida went through its clean up with Muschamp. I dont think FSU bring Meyer into Tallahassee. That would get ugly and the BoG know it.
Urban Meyer wants the Dallas Cowboys job–he’ll demand huge money and total control over personnel—jerry and his son are clueless as GMs.
Jerry yes, Stephen has actually done pretty well. Just look at the draft picks and trades the past few years if you need any proof. The only thing left over from when Jerry was running the show is Garrett and that’s something Stephen will likely take care of next season as well.
Meyer develops family and health issues every time he decides he wants out of the mess he creates.
My prediction is that USC wont go for a known grease spot given their recent admissions scandal. Prob overly focused on appearances imo. But Chip Kelley is not for long so I see him ending up,at UCLA
I thought Urban had a brain cyst that prevents him from the high stress of coaching college football. Or is this another of his many lies?
this only occurs when he has to play against nick saban.
Funny thing about that would be if he took the USC job after this season his first game as coach would be against Saban and Bama next season.
That would be akin to becoming Darth Vader and killing your fellow Jedi and younglings.
I’ve wonder if he’s ever said “I don’t like sand” as a pick-up line?
Taggart is not a good coach. His FSU team Has athletes.
18 million reasons why FSU can’t afford it that’s not including the buyout of Taggart’s staff that will have be paid since Meyer would absolutely clean house. FSU and Meyer go together like peanut butter and jelly. FSU already covered up the Jamesis Winston rape image what crimes FSU would cover up for this guy.
Here we go with the Urban Meyer to everywhere rumors…
What a joke to put Urban Meyer as a possible candidate for FSU. Meyer hasn’t sunk that low. Why not Auburn?
FSU, even with talent not at the level of the good old days, should be a much better team. Aside from Clemson, the ACC is an extremely weak conference from top to bottom. The Florida game and the Clemson games are going to always be big difficult games. FSU should not be struggling against the rest of the schedule. I don’t know if it is talent or coaching, but something needs fixing. p.s. Urban is the problem, not the solution.
Hahaha. Not a chance in hell.
I thought Meyer has a brain tumor or heart attack or some such thing that he can never get stressed again or he will die. What is going on here?
About as much of a chance of this as Urban going to Mich.
Well I’ve thought and thought and prayed and prayed on this over and over and forgotten what it was all about already.
I think meyer wants in a cushy NFL job, but if he came back to college, Southern Cal. would make more sense for him.
What a joke….Meyer wouldn’t even START to consider FSU. Does anyone take this crap seriously? His last 2 jobs were both considered leaps and bounds bigger jobs than FSU. I’m not saying a job would have to come along that’s just as good as UF, or OSU for him to come back…bc everyone knows why he left those places despite what was said but he isn’t gonna go down 3 notches either…come on. This doesn’t even seem like rumors worth reporting. (Although I guess I am commenting on it lol…that being said I didn’t read it…don’t need to)
If it happens Urban Meyer fake heart problem after he loses to Clemson.
Just like he did when he lost SEC championship to Alabama.
Just like when he lost to Purdue when he was in OHIO STATE.