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Urban Meyer, Notre Dame and You

From Jeremy Fowler's stellar blog at the Orlando Sentinel, a link to an interview Urban Meyer gave to WQAM in Miami where he talks about Notre Dame being his dream job. Fowler makes a logical case for Meyer eventually going to the Irish.

I don't want to overanalyze this, but Florida can't feel too special about this one. It almost reads as if Florida is the rebound girlfriend. You've got to think that although Meyer was just being honest, and I respect his candor on the matter, he didn't intend on slighting Florida. He has no reason to. In the end, it sounds like Notre Dame could be Meyer's destination once his son, Nate, is growing into his high school and Meyer can non-stop recruit.

I think there is a part of Meyer that loves Notre Dame. But, I don't believe the, "Hey, he's Catholic!" argument because Billy Donovan isn't being pursued by South Bend and Donovan is so Catholic, he was one of the major donors to Gainesville's first Catholic high school. Charlie Weis is Catholic and an alum but a crappy coach too. And I don't believe the "dream job" part either.

Fowler hits on something when he says, "Florida is the rebound girlfriend." There is one problem with this though; Urban had a chance to go to Notre Dame. Yes, it was easier to come to Florida and spend day trips recruiting rather than flying to California to recruit the latest blonde QB from a private school. But, Florida put on a full court press. Jeremy Foley and Billy Donovan recruited Meyer, as well as UF President Bernie Machen, who hired Meyer at Utah. Donovan's wife even spoke to Meyer's wife about living in Gainesville. You know what Notre Dame did? NOTHING. Now, when Notre Dame is desperate (whether that is now or next season or in a few years), Meyer is supposed to pack up his family again for the school that showed him so little respect the first time?

To stick with Fowler's phrase, Notre Dame is the hot chick who you've been friends with but never showed much romantic interest in you except when she was drunk. Florida is the cute chick who wants to get to know you better and thinks you're really awesome. Those of us who have dated know ultimately which is the better pick. (Also, the cute chick always has a nicer butt.) Hell, if you were Jay Gatsby, you could say the hot chick comes from old money and the cute chick is new money. And guess what? Gatsby chased the old money chick and dies at the end in his pool. (My apologies to high school students for giving away the ending.)

The point is that from now until the end of time or Notre Dame wins another national championship (which ever is first), Notre Dame and Urban Meyer will be connected. (Alabama and Bobby Bowden were the same way.) This speaks to Meyer's respect for Notre Dame and Notre Dame's lack of imagination when hiring coaches. (Who the hell were Pete Carroll and Jim Tressel when they were hired? Not coaches at BCS powerhouses.) Besides, if Urban were to ever go to South Bend, you think he would be able to be Parrothead there? I don't think so.

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Split Decisions

Feb 2010 by mlmintampa - 3 comments

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Umm... a rebound girlfriend that he's soon to have gotten two rings with...

Wouldn’t that be a marriage?

Clutch: A measurement of how much better or worse a player does in high leverage situations than he would have done in a context neutral environment. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/glossary/

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Dec 11, 2008 5:26 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Meyer would be an idiot to go to Notre Dame.

UF is the better program right now.

Our goal is simple: Best in the land

by FSUSOM on Dec 11, 2008 6:11 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

I really do think it'll happen eventually.

Now let’s just hope that “eventually” isn’t next year. At some point, you really have to think that “I’ve done all I can do here” will set in, especially if we win next month. It hit Spurrier eventually and he left to try out the NFL. Since I believe Meyer when he says he has no interest in the NFL, really the only challenge left for him would be to try to resurrect the moribund team that not even (self) certified geniuses have not been able to breathe life into. Plus ND is the one school that definitely has the boosters to at least come close to matching UF in $$$.

by Gator Cub on Dec 12, 2008 8:40 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

Ugh.

Please ignore the double negative.

by Gator Cub on Dec 12, 2008 8:41 AM EST up reply actions   0 recs

All I can do here?

Maybe Meyer could stay at UF and win 5, 8, maybe 12 national championships and be known as the greatest coach in the history of college football??? I think that possibility is more attractive than trying to rebuild a downtrodden program of yesteryear.

The NFL is irrelevent right now. Regardless of Meyer’s interest level, the NFL has had enough of college coaches after so many failures. The trend is to now hire NFL assistants and it has worked much better – see Atlanta, Washington, etc.

by skigator93 on Dec 12, 2008 9:39 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

I hope this is sarcasm.

It is hard to tell on the Internet.

Our goal is simple: Best in the land

by FSUSOM on Dec 12, 2008 4:04 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

At some point,

to a guy who by definition has a big ego, winning more national championships at the same place has to become redundant. And even if he doesn’t win any more with Florida, he definitely can’t accomplish anything new here.

If—if—he managed to rebuild Notre Dame, that would easily surpass any success he had/has at Florida as line one of his obituary. And you know Urban believes he could do it. Sometime in the next few years, I definitely expect him to at least strongly consider leaving for ND.

by Gator Cub on Dec 12, 2008 10:27 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

Perfect season?

Clutch: A measurement of how much better or worse a player does in high leverage situations than he would have done in a context neutral environment. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/glossary/

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Dec 12, 2008 5:00 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

Go ND

In an effort to keep Meyer from going to Notre Dame, Gator fans should hope for some 8,9,10 win seasons from Weis. I would pretty mad if he left UF for ND. If Meyer wants to give the NFL a shot in a few years, thats different.

Bringing a championship to ND is certainly a tough challenge, but winning anywhere is a challenge. There is a lot he may want to accomplish at UF, like an undefeated season, winning without Tebow, or winning back to back championships. These are possibilties under Meyer, but with a lesser coach, not so much. Despite the fact I hate ND, I hope they are just good enough to prevent Meyer from going there.

by abcgator on Dec 12, 2008 11:27 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

here's a challenge

If his ego is so big that winning national titles at Florida is so redundant, than why go to another (at least one time) national powerhouse? If he really wants to prove something, go win a championship at Vandy.

Again, he can “want” to leave for the NFL as much as he wants, but the NFL is done with college coaches right now. See the last 10 college to NFL coaching disasters to find out why.

He still has plenty of work to do at UF. Would he not want to be the winningest coach in UF history? the first with a perfect season? the first not to have any players arrested in a season?

by skigator93 on Dec 12, 2008 11:57 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

The One Upside

A yearly guaranteed faceoff between him and Pete Carroll.

by falcontom on Dec 14, 2008 12:14 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

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