Fans know Urban Meyer as a college football coaching machine. Wherever he has been a head coach, the fans at that school got the moon. In two seasons at Bowling Green, he went 17-6, implemented the spread offense, and made QB Omar Jacobs into a fringe NFL prospect. In two seasons at Utah, he went 22-2 (one of those seasons being a perfect 12-0), won two Mountain West Conference titles, and his 2004 team became the first non-AQ team to receive a BCS bid since the system's inception in 1998, going on to beat Pitt in the Fiesta Bowl. At Florida, he went 65-15, won two national titles, one division title, and coached Tim Tebow into being a Heisman Trophy winner. When it comes to college football, Urban Meyer knows stuff about things.In the latter years at Florida, Meyer dealt with health problems, player arrests, and had to rebuild his team due to players leaving for the NFL. After the 2010 season in which The Gators finished a disappointing 8-5, Meyer was burnt out and decided to leave coaching. ESPN quickly snatched him up and gave him a job as a college football analyst.
With spring ball under way at most schools, we're seeing Urban Meyer, the broadcast journalist, for the first time.
On Sunday, ESPN aired its annual Spring Game spotlight, this year covering Texas' scrimmage. Meyer was calling the game alongside long-time ESPN analysts Chris Spielman and Joe Tessitore. The post-game wrap-up can be viewed here or below.
In this video, we see just how different Meyer's world is now. Toward the end, Tessitore asks both analysts to predict The Longhorns' 2011 record. Spielman goes first and provides his prediction (an 8-4 season) and a strong argument to back it up. When Meyer's turn comes up, he gives his prediction (10-2), which is then followed by shallow observations and critiques. Tessitore chimes in and basically takes Meyer to the woodshed and provides reasons why his prediction is far-fetched. I hadn't seen Urban Meyer get schooled like that since the 2009 SEC Championship Game. The only thing missing was Tim Tebow crying like a Junior High School girl who just arrived home and realized she left her oboe on the school bus.
When you're the head coach at a Division 1 school, you can get away with answering questions with little or superficial elaboration. As an analyst, you can't. Welcome to broadcasting, Urban.
