Perhaps in an effort to get out way ahead of the expected rumors once Weis' demise is made official, Meyer is shooting down even the remotest notion that he could be leaving The Swamp for Touchdown Jesus.
"I'll dispel those rumors right now," Meyer said according to the Gainesville Sun. "I'm going to be at Florida for as long as they'll have me."
This is at least the third time this year that Meyer has attempted to knock down the Irish talk. Of course, it was Meyer himself who planted many a seed for fertile black helicopter minds by proclaiming -- twice -- last year that Notre Dame was his dream job.
Even given this latest denial, though, the rumor mill is expected to churn out a healthy dose of Meyer's name once the guillotine official falls on Weis' Irish tenure.
// Notre Dame was his dream job //
It was his dream job back when Urban was 9 years old and ND was still relevant. Now? Not so much...
Superior facilities, superior recruiting, superior institutional support, superior place to live, superior program, etc.
ND is the distant past of college football, UF is the recent past, present and future.
Meyer would be a fool to leave for ND. He knows that and so does everyone out there with half a brain...I guess that leaves out delusional ND fans.
He should go. Then Notre Dame can fill their schedule with schools from Indiana and never leave the state.
This misses the more important point from Florida's press conference - that Tebow is seriously thinking of pulling a "Spurrier" and returning to Florida after his playing career to coach the Gators.
So, even if Tebow's NFL career is a bust, everyone who is already sick of Orange-and-Blue Jesus and the media overexposure that he gets better strap in for the long-haul...
Gator-prof: Notre Dame is the superior academic institution - period - and pours a ton of money into its athletic programs. Those programs are overwhelmingly successful. Football will be, too.
Why is it so hard for folks to accept that ND would like to win with athletes that are actually students - overwhelmingly so, up and down the roster – and wants those same kids to represent the University well off the field? Is it self-loathing because your university wins with guys like Spikes who lack any sportsmanship, and go all the way back to guys like Emmitt Smith who is debacled by the English language? How humiliating for you. Don't think no one notices: we do.
Or are you able to pretend that its all OK and not an enormous embarrassment because other schools "do it, too?"
Its why our country keeps losing ground to China and India. We're a culture of cheaters (thanks, Wall Street) and incompetents. We also take the easy way out over doing things the right way almost without exception. And many of us sit around and take it, while rationalizing why its OK.
College football reflects this perfectly.
Which is precisely why ND has to win. No one believes it can be done this way anymore. I contend that it can; it would set a fine example for the youth of this country.
UF can keep Meyer.
Oh, and I pray you're not really a professor at UF (though that would explain so, so much).
Ha, I'm not a Notre Dame by an stretch, but I love the arrogance of the Gators. Sure, why would he leave Florida for ND and it's rich history as THE mecca of college football? Sure, one drawback from leaving UF is that he'd then have to recruit kids with intelligible thoughts. Not that Percy Harvin and his 12 on the Wonderlic fits that mold at all.
Also, nothing says prestige like an alleged member of UF's faculty running junk on a college football message board, especially the "half a brain" line. Really adds to the mystique of the hallowed halls of Gainesville.
I find it hard to swallow that the football players at ND are so intellectual in the classroom but so otherwise between the goal posts. After all, coaches do not win the games or lose them, it is the men on the field between the goal posts. But my big problem is with the wealthy who can throw so much at a coach that he can come in and fail and walk away with a $18 million buyout.
Who wouldn't want to go there for four years at 6-5 each year, make a minor bowl at the best, and walk away with millions of buyouts.? Weis sealed his fate from the beginning when he talked about Ty Willingham's 6-5 record like he could change it. He didn't . He will back on the Lions, Browns, or Seahawks, or Titans, or Jaguars sidelines, next year. I wish him well.
I find it hard to swallow that the football players at ND are so intellectual in the classroom but so otherwise between the goal posts. After all, coaches do not win the games or lose them, it is the men on the field between the goal posts. But my big problem is with the wealthy who can throw so much at a coach that he can come in and fail and walk away with a $18 million buyout.
Who wouldn't want to go there for four years at 6-5 each year, make a minor bowl at the best, and walk away with millions of buyouts.? Weis sealed his fate from the beginning when he talked about Ty Willingham's 6-5 record like he could change it. He didn't . He will back on the Lions, Browns, or Seahawks, or Titans, or Jaguars sidelines, next year. I wish him well.
plfalzar...
Like I said, better facilities, perhaps the best in the nation. ND would have to break the bank to compete. South Bend is a hole. Gainesville is a much nicer place to live, both as a coach and for a player.
Aside from tradition, ND has zero going for it.
Yes, you can win with athletes who are students, but after a while is a lame excuse for your ND's failures. This is what most people find distasteful...constant excuses.
Yes, I am a prof in engineering...we are higher ranked than ND and have been for a while. Much like their football program their engineering program is in a state of decline as well.
That being said, the SEC and UF certainly admit kids for sports that wouldn't get in otherwise.
NCAA football is a business first and a big money business at that. I don't agree with the student athlete myth, but it is what it is. If people want to be pure about it, don't be a patron, period.
Before any ND fan wants to comment on Spikes' eye gouge attempt, they need to be reminded about what happened to Jerome Hayes in 2007.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GlFiIHnRyU
It is interesting that such a high and mighty institute of moral purity like ND would tolerate such thugs like Travis Thomas and Mike Ragone wearing the golden dome.
I don't recall, the ND suspend Thomas and Ragone?
In the last 50 years, ND has won 4 national championships and has a record of 383-181-8 (.677) while Florida has won 3 national championships and had a record of 404-173-11 (.696). In the last 50 years, Florida has had 4 losing seasons; Notre Dame had had 9. The last losing season by the Gators was in 1979 and the Irish have had SEVEN since then. In the last 16 years, ND has gone 114-78-1 (.583), with 4 losing seasons and no national championships while Florida has gone 161-41-1 (.796) with 0 losing seasons and 3 national championships. If Florida makes it back-to-back then that makes 4 for Florida and they're even for the last 50 years.
Now, I understand that TRADITION means a lot to those people who don't want to deal with the present but other than it being a “dream job”, just what is it that Notre Dame has that Florida doesn't? You can say that coaching at Notre Dame would make him a legend but that ship has already sailed. Urban Meyer just has to put in the time and the CFB HOF is his. He coaches weekly against the best teams in the country and he doesn't even have to leave his state to recruit in one of the best areas in the country. Now, maybe, if in the future when he's gotten on in years and if Notre Dame is still not relevant then he might go there but why do so many Domers believe that it's inevitable. Better to be realistic and go for Brian Kelly, who would definitely see the Irish as a career step up.
"I'm not leaving Ole Miss until they carry me out in a pine box." -- Tommy Tuberville, a few days before he accepted the HC job at Auburn
"If you want me to say it, I'll say it: I will not be the next head coach at Alabama." -- Nick Saban, a couple weeks before leaving the Miami Dolphins to be the next HC at Alabama
"I did not have sex with that woman, Monica Lewinsky." -- Do you really need me to say who?
Really, what else do you expect Urban Meyer to say at this point? His team is playing its biggest rival this weekend, a 1-vs-2 matchup for the SEC title next weekend, and should they win that game, a BCS title matchup with Texas (Christian?). No HC at this point in the season is going to give even the slightest indication of interest in another job, regardless of whether he is interested or not.
Until ND either announces that he is not on their short list or actually introduces their new coach and it ain't Meyer (assuming the 99.9% chance Weis gets canned pans out), then any such pronouncements of not being interested in the Irish job are not going to be any weight. It's unfortunate, but it's just the way it is.
And as far as the "Tebow may coach this team one day" and his teary-eyed commentary about Jesus Jr. leaving UF, I'm still waiting for them to pick out curtains together at Bloomingdale's.
"I'm not leaving Ole Miss until they carry me out in a pine box." -- Tommy Tuberville, a few days before he accepted the HC job at Auburn
"If you want me to say it, I'll say it: I will not be the next head coach at Alabama." -- Nick Saban, a couple weeks before leaving the Miami Dolphins to be the next HC at Alabama
"I did not have sex with that woman, Monica Lewinsky." -- Do you really need me to say who?
Really, what else do you expect Urban Meyer to say at this point? His team is playing its biggest rival this weekend, a 1-vs-2 matchup for the SEC title next weekend, and should they win that game, a BCS title matchup with Texas (Christian?). No HC at this point in the season is going to give even the slightest indication of interest in another job, regardless of whether he is interested or not.
Until ND either announces that he is not on their short list or actually introduces their new coach and it ain't Meyer (assuming the 99.9% chance Weis gets canned pans out), then any such pronouncements of not being interested in the Irish job are not going to be any weight. It's unfortunate, but it's just the way it is.
And as far as the "Tebow may coach this team one day" and his teary-eyed commentary about Jesus Jr. leaving UF, I'm still waiting for them to pick out curtains together at Bloomingdale's.
And now let me ask the ND folks: What, exactly, has changed in the last 15 years that has caused academics to prevent the Irish from being competitive on the football field? Have the standards at South Bend changed dramatically upwards in that time so that the team that has won 11 national titles and had 7 Heisman winners can no longer keep up with the rest of the country? You know, it seems to me that Lou Holtz was able to win a title at ND and put them in position to have a shot at several others. Same with Ara Parseighian (however you spell it) and Knute Rockne and all the other great coaches that the Irish have had over the years. And aren't USC and Miami private schools, too? For that matter, isn't Boston College, which had a six-game (or was it seven?) winning streak over ND until this year?
The point is, nothing has changed in the last several years. ND still gets highly-rated recruiting classes every year. There are plenty of quality players across the country that can qualify academically at ND without the school having to compromise its standards. As ND likes to trumpet, they have the only truly national fan base and with it the only truly national recruiting base, whereas pretty much everyone else is reliant on the bulk of their recruits coming from within 300 miles of campus (not that that is really a handicap for some programs). The tools are all still there for ND to be a football powerhouse, they've just forgotten how to use them, and they need to stop using a ridiculous excuse of high academic standards to cover for it.
Poor Notre Dame fans, I feel sorry for them. Because if you can't get Meyer, how can you ever top the Charlie Weis hiring? He had all the hype and was at the top of every NFL and College team's list, and probably would have gotten an NFL job if the Patriots weren't so good and making the playoffs every year. Everyone thought hiring him was a great move and a perfect fit. No one else out there has that kind of hype right now.
What's changed is that high school students who are stud athletes are much more self-aware and physically mature. Even though the websites probably exaggerate 40 times or even lifting stats, they're pretty good at depicting the general speed and size that's steadily increasing at the prep ranks.
The best kids these days want to be in the major limelight at school and around campus. They want to go to schools with hot girls, nice weather, and an opportunity to be seen so that they can go to the NFL. How's that going to happen? By going to a place where you have the best shot to win tons of games. Notice, I use the present tense: WINS tons of games. What happened 50 years ago at your university is irrelevant to 99% of 17-18 year old children.
So, if you were a 17 or 18 year old stud from anywhere, USA, which locale would you choose:
a) sunny climate and home to many recent national champion (or at least nationally competitive) teams; the facilities and talent you'll compete against for playing time are both top-notch; the girls at the school look like they belong in Playboy -- a good number of them want to sleep with you;
or,
b) dreary climate, mediocre to awful showings against top level talent in all recent games, and home to many previous era national champions -- the last from before you were born (1988); decent, but not spectacular facilities; girls who are average looking for the most part. The hottest ones are more the "cute librarian" type -- not the pinup models at the other universities.
We can delude ourselves into thinking that these kids are in school first to get an education. They are not. They are in school to learn about how to be the best football player they can be because being a pro football player means they can earn at least six figures as soon as they finish college. Most do not make it to the NFL, so they eventually acquiesce to doing their homework or just flunk out.
In the end, the big business of college football will continue to churn on because people like us love to obsess over it. Kids will choose the sunny climates, sweet facilities, and uber hotties because that's the glamorous lifestyle that they see in the media. They want to make their dreams come true in the best way they know how.
Urban Meyer knows this better than we do. That's why he moved from Bowling Green to Utah. When he was hot at Utah, he struck when his iron was the hottest and got his ass to UF. Notice before that HE CHOSE UF over ND. Since then, he's only won two national titles and his best pupil won the Heisman in the middle. He's not going anywhere. Super fast, amazingly strong, and crazy talented kids will flock to UF and win more titles. Their talents will go to die at ND.
Another reason to stay away from ND, irate fans that assault players. I have to hand to ND, they have reversed the norm. Usually, players end up beating people, not the other way around. Things must be tough in Rust, er I mean South Bend.
Wow. gator_prof is a professor. At an actual university if he is to be believed. Not a very sharp one, however. How many molders of minds with advance degrees would not feel ridiculous posting minutiae while purposely concealing the rest of the story: UF has a respectable rank in undergrad engineering, and it appears to be better than ND engineering’s ranking (USNEWS 2008).
However, no mention of ND’s overall academic rank, its B-school ranking in business (graduate and undergraduate), architecture, law – even philosophy. All superior to UF. So were you attempting to counter my academic comparison point?
Don’t you compel your students to research concepts and thoughts before presenting them to you in class? Way to represent the faculty, genius.
Perhaps you can argue next that Gainesville is a sparkling metropolis as compared to South Be… My apologies. I see that you have. Yes, a town in a swamp. Ansel Adams must have spent a lot of time down there capturing its essence.
Anyhoo, now that we’ve cleared that confusion up for you, on to your most frightening point: the “myth of the student-athlete.” You are a professor??? Are you telling me that the football team athletes represent the caliber of kids playing UF’s Olympic sports and that they are all a bunch of mouth-breathing simpletons; or perhaps that only stupid children pick football, so one is forced to admit those “that wouldn't get in otherwise?”
My point simply was that the University of Notre Dame sticks to its guns, makes it harder on itself to win because it insists on the student-athlete model for all its sports, football included. I’m not entirely convinced UF and others have those same standards, and therefore are inclined to take the easier path. That wasn’t patronage: I don’t recall being kind, just condescending.
plfalzar...
I don't see what my occupation has to do with posting here.
Like I said, all I care about is engineering and science & technology, which is my area. If you look at research revenue, patents, etc. It isn't even close. ND isn't really a top shelf research institute (i.e., not a member of the AAU). It is trying, but much like its football team, it has problems attracting top talent to its ranks. Part of it is the Catholic thing which makes non Catholics feel unwelcome. The other is that it just isn't set up to be a research powerhouse.
Have you ever been to Gainesville? I have been to South Bend numerous times. It is a freaking hole. It is a rust belt city trying to be re-invent itself. No rational person given a choice of where to live would choose South Bend. Gainesville is a small town, but when you consider the weather, cost of living, proximity to interesting places, etc. it is a no brainer. One place's population is growing, the other is in decline. I have you guess which one is which. Usually, people vote with their feet in terms of best places to live.
As a young man from central FL, I can tell you firsthand that the ND CSE dept is lightyears ahead of anything UF has to offer. Coming out of college, I had offers left and right for positions, while my UF friends were out of luck and moving back home, or on the "seven year plan". I guess that's an option when your school is free.
Of course, it's not always where you go, but what you do there. I must've just studied harder :)
yourskills++;
ND '05