Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is an American sportscaster and former football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons from 2001 to 2002, the Utah Utes from 2003 to 2004, the Florida Gators from 2005 to 2010, and the Ohio State Buckeyes from 2012 to 2018. He retired from coaching in 2019 at the end of the Rose Bowl, and stayed at Ohio State as an assistant athletic director and was also an analyst for Fox Sports, appearing weekly on their Big Noon Kickoff pregame show. In 2021, Meyer came out of retirement to take his first National Football League (NFL) job as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, but was fired 13 games into his first and only season, after going 2–11 and being involved in both on- and off-field controversies. He then went back to Fox Sports to resume his broadcasting career.
Meyer was born in Toledo, Ohio; grew up in Ashtabula, Ohio; and attended the University of Cincinnati, where he played football as a defensive back. While at the University of Florida, he coached the Gators to two BCS National Championship Game victories, during the 2006 and 2008 seasons. Meyer's winning percentage through the conclusion of the 2009 season (.842) was the highest among active coaches with a minimum of five full seasons at a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) program.
Following his temporary retirement in 2011, he worked as a college football analyst for the television sports network ESPN before joining Ohio State to become their head coach. In 2014, he led the Buckeyes to their first Big Ten Conference title under his tenure as well as the program's eighth national championship. Meyer is one of four coaches, along with Pop Warner, Howard Jones, and Nick Saban, to win a major college football national championship at two universities. Meyer was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2025.
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Early life
Meyer was born on July 10, 1964, in Toledo, Ohio, and was raised in Ashtabula, Ohio. He graduated from Ashtabula's Saint John High School in 1982.
Weeks after graduating high school, Meyer was selected in the 13th round of the 1982 Major League Baseball draft by the Atlanta Braves as a shortstop. He spent the '82 and '83 seasons playing in 44 minor league games in the Braves organization, before an arm injury ended his baseball career. He walked on as a defensive back at the University of Cincinnati in the autumn of 1983, lettering in 1984, before earning his bachelor's degree in psychology in 1986. During his undergraduate studies, Meyer was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity (Zeta Psi chapter).
Meyer earned his master's degree in sports administration in 1988 from Ohio State University.
Coaching career
In 2004, Meyer was recognized as the college football coach of the year by both sportswriters (Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year) and television commentators (Home Depot Coach of the Year Award). He then had twenty years of college coaching experience, including nine as a head coach. His overall record as a head coach through the end of the 2009 season was 96–18, and he was 49–14 in conference play. His winning percentage (.842) through the end of the 2009 season ranked first nationally among active college football head coaches. By winning the 2009 BCS Championship game on January 8, 2009, Meyer moved past Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops into second place on the list of active Division I coaches ranked by winning percentage.
Meyer is Catholic, and on several occasions has referred to the head coaching position at the University of Notre Dame as his "dream job", leading to speculation that he would someday wish to coach there. However, according to a July 2009 newspaper report, Meyer insisted he would never leave Florida for Notre Dame. And when the employment status of Irish coach Charlie Weis came into question in November 2009, Meyer held a press conference to dispel rumors linking him to the possible opening, stating that he would remain at Florida for "as long as they'll have me". The University of Cincinnati's Brian Kelly was eventually hired for the job.
On December 26, 2009, Meyer announced he would resign following the team's bowl game against Cincinnati, citing health concerns. However, the following day Meyer announced that he would instead take an indefinite leave of absence, and he resumed his coaching duties in time for the beginning of the Gators' spring practice on March 17, 2010.
Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley announced Meyer's resignation on December 8, 2010, but stated that Meyer would remain as the head coach through the Gators' appearance in the Outback Bowl on January 1, 2011.
On November 28, 2011, Meyer accepted the head coach position at Ohio State University.
Early coaching career
After playing as a defensive back and placeholder for the University of Cincinnati, Meyer spent one season interning as a defensive back coach at Saint Xavier High School in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1985, under the mentorship of legendary St. Xavier head coach Steve Rasso, where he met members of the Ohio State coaching staff. His first collegiate coaching position was a two-year stint as a graduate assistant coaching tight ends at Ohio State under head coach Earle Bruce. He spent the next thirteen years as an assistant—two at Illinois State, six at Colorado State, and five at Notre Dame.
One of the talents he coached at Colorado State was wide receiver Greg Primus (3,096 yards and 17 touchdowns in three years). He put up over 1,000 yards receiving from 1990 to 1992 under Meyer's tutelage. At Notre Dame, he coached wide receiver Bobby Brown who would finish his career with 1,521 yards and 12 receiving touchdowns. At Notre Dame in 2000, he coached wide receiver David Givens who would later be drafted by the New England Patriots.
In 1990, while still the linebacker coach at Illinois State, he called Toledo head coach Nick Saban's home and spoke to Saban's wife to inquire if a position was available. Saban, however, never returned the call. Saban later said "I was so kind of caught up and busy with what I was doing, I never really followed up on that. Obviously, that was a huge mistake on my part because the guy's a fantastic coach."
Bowling Green
In 2001, Meyer took his first head coaching job at Bowling Green. In his first season there, he engineered one of the greatest turnarounds in the NCAA football history, going 8–3 and capping off the season with a 56–21 victory over Bowling Green's rival, the University of Toledo Rockets. He also earned Mid-American Conference coach of the year honors. The next year, Bowling Green finished with a 9–3 record. After a 17–6 overall record, Meyer left for the University of Utah.
He helped turn around a team that had gone 2–9 in 2000 in large part due to quarterback Josh Harris, a player tailor-made for Meyer's scheme. In a part-time play in 2001, Harris passed for 1,022 yards with nine touchdowns and ran for 600 yards and eight touchdowns. The next year, he passed for 2,425 yards with 19 touchdowns and ran for 737 yards with 20 touchdowns. Meyer would later use such quarterbacks as Alex Smith and Tim Tebow in a fashion similar to the way Meyer used Harris.
Utah
After two seasons at Bowling Green, he took the job at Utah in 2003. In his first year there, Meyer was named the Mountain West Conference's Coach of the Year with a 10–2 record, the best ever for a coach's first season at Utah. He also earned honors as The Sporting News National Coach of the Year, the first Utes coach to do so. They also won the program's first outright conference championship since the 1957 team won the Skyline Conference title.
Meyer's success can be attributed to his unique offensive system, which is an offshoot of Bill Walsh's West Coast Offense, relying on short pass routes. Meyer's base offense spreads three receivers and puts the quarterback in shotgun formation. Then, he introduces motion in the backfield and turns it into an option attack, adding elements of the traditional run-oriented option offense.
In 2004, Meyer led the undefeated Utes to a Bowl Championship Series bid, something that had not been done by a team from a non-automatically qualifying BCS conference since the formation of the BCS in 1998. He remained at Utah long enough to coach the team to a Fiesta Bowl win over Pittsburgh, capping off the Utes' first perfect season (12–0) since 1930.
In 2003, Utes quarterback Alex Smith threw for 2,247 yards and 15 touchdowns and ran for 452 yards with five touchdowns. In 2004, he threw for 2,952 yards with 32 touchdowns and ran for 631 yards and 10 touchdowns. His production in Meyer's offensive scheme was a large reason why Smith was considered a first-round pick entering the 2005 NFL draft.
Florida
In the wake of his accomplishments at Utah, both the University of Florida and the University of Notre Dame vied for his services. Meyer chose to become Florida's head coach for the 2005 season, signing a seven-year contract worth $14 million. He later signed a six-year contract extension with the Gators on June 7, 2007; the extended contract paid an average of $3.25 million per year. On August 3, 2009, Meyer received another contract extension that made him the SEC's highest-paid coach during the 2009 season; his 2009 extension was worth $24 million over six years. At the time of the latest contract extension, Meyer was the third highest-paid college football coach, behind only Pete Carroll and Charlie Weis.
Meyer has been criticized by some commentators because 31 of his players were arrested during his six years as the Gators' coach. The seriousness of the charges varied widely, from minor offenses such as possession of alcohol by a minor to the charges of possession of a concealed weapon, "aggravated stalking, domestic violence by strangulation, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and fraudulent use of credit cards". Many of the charges were ultimately dismissed.
In September 2010, after Gator receiver Chris Rainey was arrested for sending a threatening text message to a former girlfriend, Meyer stated that he was "real upset about that. After a while, enough's enough. If there's something that we can improve on, we're certainly looking into that. It's like if our graduation rate stinks then we gotta improve that. If there are other issues in a program, that's our job to get it better. It's people making stupid mistakes, that's something we gotta correct."
In 2005, his first season at Florida, Meyer's Gators team finished the season 9–3 (5–3 in the Southeastern Conference). The season included an undefeated record at home and a 31–24 victory against Iowa in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida. The Gators would have faced LSU in the SEC Championship Game, but they lost to South Carolina and former Florida head coach Steve Spurrier in the SEC regular-season finale.
In 2006, Meyer coached the Gators to a 13–1 (8–1 in the SEC) record, with the one loss coming to the Auburn Tigers. After clinching the SEC East, the Gators won the SEC Championship Game on December 2 over Arkansas by a score of 38–28. The Gators defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes, 41–14, in the 2007 BCS National Championship Game to win the national championship. It was the first BCS bowl berth for the Gators since the Orange Bowl that capped off the 2001 campaign, and Florida's first national championship appearance and victory since winning the 1997 Sugar Bowl.
ESPN career
After resigning as the head football coach of the Florida Gators, Meyer worked as a college football commentator and analyst for the American television sports network ESPN.
Ohio State
On November 17, 2011, Eleven Warriors reported that Meyer would become the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes. Meyer denied the report publicly, then asked ESPN to be taken off assignment during the weekend of the Ohio State–Michigan game, adding more to the speculations that he might be named the next head coach of Ohio State. On November 28, WBNS Columbus confirmed that Meyer had accepted the job as Ohio State's head football coach, and was introduced as head coach later that night. The school said Meyer would receive a six-year contract that paid $4 million annually, plus another $2.4 million total in "retention payments". It was reported by CBS Sports on April 13, 2015, that Meyer signed a contract extension with the Buckeyes through 2020.
In Meyer's first year of coaching at Ohio State, he helped lead the Buckeyes to an undefeated 12–0 record and a No. 3 AP Poll ranking. The season was highlighted with ranked victories over Michigan State, Nebraska, and Michigan. The team was ineligible for all other rankings, as well as postseason play, due to NCAA sanctions. He was surrounded by first-year coaches such as offensive coordinator Tom Herman, co-offensive coordinator Ed Warriner, and co-defensive coordinator Everett Withers.
In the 2013 regular season, Meyer helped lead Ohio State to ranked wins over Wisconsin and Northwestern. The regular season was capped with a 42–41 road win over Michigan. Ohio State qualified for the Big Ten Championship, which they lost 34–24 to Michigan State. Ohio State lost 40–35 to Clemson in the Orange Bowl. Ohio State finished #12 in the BCS rankings and a 12–2 record. Meyer lost talent at the end of the year to the 2014 NFL Draft, including linebacker Ryan Shazier, cornerback Bradley Roby, and running back Carlos Hyde. Roby and Shazier went in the first round, and Hyde went in the second round.
Before the start of the season, Ohio State lost its star quarterback, Braxton Miller, when he sustained a right shoulder injury during practice. Redshirt freshman quarterback J. T. Barrett stepped in as his replacement and led Ohio State to an 11–1 record through the first 12 games of the season. However, in the final game of the regular season, he sustained a broken ankle and was lost for the remainder of the year. Cardale Jones replaced Barrett at quarterback and guided Ohio State to a 59–0 blowout win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten Football Championship Game. With the conference championship and the convincing win over Wisconsin, Ohio State moved up to #4 in the College Football Playoff rankings, jumping the two Big 12 teams in playoff contention, Baylor and TCU, qualifying for the inaugural four-team postseason tournament. They played #1 Alabama in the semifinal Sugar Bowl. Despite being nine-point underdogs and trailing by as much as 15 points in the first half, Ohio State came back to win, 42–35. The Buckeyes then faced Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota and the Oregon Ducks in the College Football Playoff National Championship. The Buckeyes were again underdogs as the #2-ranked Ducks were favored by seven points. Despite giving up four turnovers, Ohio State beat Oregon, 42–20, with MVP performances from running back Ezekiel Elliott and safety Tyvis Powell. The victory marked the eighth national championship in Ohio State's history and gave Meyer his third career national title, following his two with Florida.
Jacksonville Jaguars
On January 14, 2021, Meyer was hired to become the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. On July 1, 2021, the NFL fined Meyer $100,000 for violating practice rules during organized team activities.
In early October, a video appeared to show Meyer inappropriately touching a woman who was not his wife while he was at his Columbus-area restaurant, Urban Meyer's Pint House. Meyer apologized to the team and personnel. Jaguars owner Shahid Khan said that Meyer's behavior had been "inexcusable" and that Meyer "must regain our trust and respect".
The Jaguars won their first regular season game on October 17 against the Miami Dolphins by a score of 23–20. The Jaguars won their second regular season game when they defeated the heavily favored Buffalo Bills by a score of 9–6 on November 7.
Toward the end of the 2021 season, Jaguars players and coaches were critical of Meyer's treatment of them, to which the team officially responded with assertions of Meyer's job security.
On December 15, former Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo publicly accused Meyer of physical abuse, saying that Meyer repeatedly kicked Lambo's leg during warmups prior to the team's final preseason game. Lambo said it was inexcusable for any boss at any workplace to strike an employee. After Lambo told Meyer never to kick him again, Lambo said Meyer responded, "I'm the head ball coach. I'll kick you whenever the fuck I want." Later that day, Lambo reported the incident to his agent, who then reported it to the Jaguars team. Within hours of these new revelations from Lambo, Jaguars owner Shahid Khan made the decision to fire Meyer from his position and informed him of this in the early hours of December 16, 2021.
Meyer recorded a 2–11 (.154) record during his brief tenure. His thirteen-game tenure is tied with Lou Holtz and Bobby Petrino for fourth-shortest coaching tenures in NFL history. Holtz and Petrino also were making their NFL head coaching debuts after previously being a head coach in college. His .154 winning percentage is the worst of any non-interim head coach since Cam Cameron's .063 winning percentage with the Miami Dolphins in 2007.
Spread offense
When Meyer landed his first head coaching position at Bowling Green University, he traveled to visit John L. Smith and Scott Linehan at University of Louisville, Randy Walker and Kevin Wilson at Northwestern University, Bill Snyder at Kansas State University, Joe Tiller and Jim Chaney at Purdue University, and Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia University, all of whom ran some version of the spread offense.
Meyer's teams at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida, and Ohio State all ran the spread, chiefly utilizing a run-first variation most similar to Rodriguez's at West Virginia, but with tweaks to fit the offensive personnel. For example, Meyer's first two years at Florida skewed toward a drop-back passing attack led by Chris Leak, while Tim Tebow led an option run-based spread (as did Alex Smith at Utah). Using this offense, he won two BCS titles, won the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship, became the first coach to lead a BCS non-automatically qualified conference team (Utah) to a BCS bowl, coached a Heisman Trophy winner (Tim Tebow), and graduated a player who became a number one overall pick in the NFL draft (Alex Smith).
Coaching tree
Assistant coaches under Meyer who became NCAA or NFL head coaches:
Steve Addazio: Temple (2011–2012), Boston College (2013–2019), Colorado State (2020–2021)
Gary Andersen: Utah State (2009–2012; 2019–2020), Wisconsin (2013–2014), Oregon State (2015–2017)
Chris Ash: Rutgers (2016–2019)
Tim Beck: Coastal Carolina (2023–2025)
Tim Beckman: Toledo (2009–2011), Illinois (2012–2014)
Gregg Brandon: Bowling Green (2003–2008), Colorado Mines (2015–2021)
Ryan Day: Ohio State (2018–present)
Stan Drayton: Temple (2022–2024)
D. J. Durkin: Maryland (2016–2018)
Luke Fickell: Cincinnati (2017–2022), Wisconsin (2023–present)
Brian Hartline: South Florida (2026–present)
Cody Hawkins: Idaho State (2023–present)
Tom Herman: Houston (2015–2016), Texas (2017–2020), Florida Atlantic (2023–2024)
Jay Hill: Weber State (2014–2022)
Doc Holliday: Marshall (2010–2020)
Scot Loeffler: Bowling Green (2019–2024)
Head coaching record
Personal life
While studying at University of Cincinnati, Meyer met Shelley Mather, a freshman nursing student, at Sigma Chi's Derby Days philanthropy event. They married in 1986. The Meyers have three children: Nicole ("Nicki"), Gisela ("Gigi") and Nathan ("Nate"). His daughters played Division I volleyball: Nicki played for Georgia Tech, and Gigi played for Florida Gulf Coast. He is a practicing Catholic.