When it comes to who will be the next head coach of the Nebraska football team, there is a veritable plethora of good candidates. However, there is one name that I am apparently going to have to deliver some bad news on. Urban Meyer isn’t coming here, fam.
Why isn’t Urban Meyere going to be the next Nebraska football coach you might ask? It’s not because the Huskers can’t afford him (they can.) I’m not just saying this because I don’t want him here (I don’t, though). I’m saying this because I know he’s not coming.
Deep down, I get the feeling that those who are calling for the former Ohio State head coach the loudest know he’s not coming as well. There’s a kind of desperation in a lot of people’s social media posts when they’re arguing in favor of Urban Meyer. It seems like they know they’re fighting an uphill battle.
It’s like they’re looking for an argument. They’re looking to make their case. And I can’t blame them. I get why they want the former failed Jacksonville Jaguars head man.
Whether you like him or not, Urban Meyer would save Nebraska Football
— Husker Wave (@HuskerWave) September 16, 2022
He’s got a heck of a career record in the college ranks. Even if he hasn’t actually been in the college ranks since 2018. The man has won pretty much everywhere he’s been (other than the aforementioned Jacksonville.)
Sometimes it’s hard to separate the desire to win at all costs from reality. But people who think Urban Meyer has a chance at being the next head coach of the Nebraska football team need to realize a few things.
The first is that the college game has changed quite a bit since the last time Urban was at Ohio State. The transfer portal was just starting to be a thing when he left. It’s even possible that the creation of such a mechanism is one of the reasons he left. It’s certainly possible that the famed head coach doesn’t want to come back to coaching.
He certainly doesn’t need to. He’s got a swanky job working for Fox, analyzing what other people are doing. He’s
There’s plenty of reason to argue why someone would want him. There’s also plenty of reason to argue why the Nebraska football team would want to stay away from him. There’s the fact that he tends to be a bit fickle. What if a program in a better situation comes calling? What if (as unlikely as it seems) another NFL team comes calling?
There’s also the fact that while it seems like more than a few Husker fans are poo-pooing it these days, he handled a situation with his former wide receivers coach’s spousal abuse as poorly someone’s boss and “friend” could possibly handle it.
That wasn’t the only time Urban Meyer seemed to step in it when it came to taking the wrong side of a moral question.
Of course, most Nebraska football fans know these things. They know he’s a man with questionable character. They just don’t care because he’s a winner.
Nebraska football wants no part of Urban Meyer
That’s why I’m not here to convince you that the Nebraska football team should not hire Urban Meyer. I don’t have to do that. He’s not going to be hired.
You don’t even have to take my word for it:
Brenden Stai: "I can tell you this. Urban Meyer isn't going to be the next head coach"
— Jack Mitchell (@JackMitchellLNK) September 16, 2022
“But, but,but!” You’ll say. “Brendan Stai might be a former Husker but he certainly doesn’t know for sure who the program is going to hire.” It just so happens Stai is also an Assistant Athletic Director.
Of course there’s a chance that Stai hasn’t been clued in. There’s an argument to be made that AD Trev Alberts is playing things close to the vest and keeping the circle of people who know who is being interviewed and who isn’t, small.
But if you think Stai would come out and make a definitive statement like that without knowing from where he speaks, then I’ve got a cornfield in the middle of the Dundee neighborhood of Omaha to sell you.
Sure, it’s possible that statement was misdirection. One would then have to wonder why Stai would be willing to sacrifice his own reputation in the interest of bringing Meyer to Lincoln but I suppose it’s possible this is all part of the plan.
The bottom line is that the Nebraska football program ruled out Urban Meyer from the start. And it’s time for Husker fans around the country to embrace that and move on.