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Mullen’s wife, Urban Meyer both support Republican presidential candidate John Kasich
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The words “politics” and “football” are not usually the best combination, especially because depending upon your leanings, you run the risk of alienating people on the other side of the proverbial fence.
Well, that risk is apparently worth it for Megan Mullen, the wife of Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen, and Urban Meyer, who have publicly endorsed Ohio Governor John Kasich in his presidential bid, according to cbssports.com.
According to a letter that Mrs. Mullen wrote earlier this month to the editor of The Reflector, Mississippi State’s student newspaper, she and Kasich have been friends for almost a decade. The letter urges Americans to vote for Kasich, an endorsement that coach Mullen has not made.
Meyer, meanwhile, endorsed Kasich in a video that was released last week. The former Florida Gators coach decided to support the governor despite Donald Trump’s recent remarks, which included praise of the Buckeyes coach along with shots at Kasich.
“Now that I really know what you stand for, we’d like to tell you, we wish you guys the best. Go win this darn thing,” Meyer says in the video backing Kasich.
That’s easy for Meyer to say, considering he has won three national titles since 2006. But his outward support of Kasich is a far cry from what he said earlier this month.
“My job description is very clear, and that’s to coach Ohio State football, and the focus is on 17 to 18 to 22-year-olds,” Meyer told the Columbus Dispatch. “I have strong beliefs, but I’m not going to share that with you guys. I don’t think that’s appropriate.”
Mrs. Mullen’s backing of Kasich didn’t help the presidential hopeful in Mississippi, where he got just 8.8 percent of the vote and earned 0 delegates, compared to 47.3 percent of the vote and 24 delegates for Trump. However, Kasich — who trails Trump by a whopping 396 delegates overall — is neck-and-neck with Trump entering Tuesday’s Republican primary in Ohio, according to a CBS News/YouGov poll.
In the meantime, potential Republican candidates aren’t the only ones getting endorsements from big names with SEC connections.
Former South Carolina star and current Chicago Bears wideout Alshon Jeffery tweeted his support for Secretary of State and Democratic Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton last month.
Meyer isn’t the only Big Ten coach making political endorsements. When he’s not alienating SEC coaches by holding Wolverine spring workouts in Florida, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh has given Judge Judy — aka Judith Sheindlin — his backing as a potential Supreme Court nominee.
Of course, Harbaugh’s tweet may very well be tongue in cheek, so how seriously should these endorsements be taken? Former Major League Baseball stars Pete Rose and Johnny Damon have recently pledged their support for Trump, but how much of an impact will their declarations make?
That’s hard to tell. But let’s see how Kasich fares Tuesday and how long he stays in the Republican race.
He was probably hoping for an endorsement from someone with the cachet and reputation for winning that Nick Saban has burnished. But he can definitely do worse than getting endorsements from the wife of one of the best coaches in the SEC and arguably college football’s second-best coach.
Stan Chrapowicki is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers SEC football, Alabama and Auburn.
