Another day, another Urban Meyer denial. And, honestly, we’d expect nothing less.
For the umpteenth time in the past week or so, a media outlet has reported that the former Florida coach has agreed to become Ohio State’s next head coach. This time it’s Orlando television station WKMG doing the honors, reporting that Meyer has agreed to a seven-year, $40 million contract -- previous reports had the number pegged at $35 million over the same number of years, so Meyer has apparently earned a raise before ever coaching a game in Columbus -- and will be introduced as Jim Tressel‘s permanent replacement in the coming days.
The report goes on to state that Meyer “will bring several current UF assistant coaches with him to Columbus, including D.J. Durkin, the Gators’ linebackers coach, who will be the OSU defensive coordinator”. Previous reports had suggested that interim head coach Luke Fickell would stay on as Meyer’s coordinator; the TV station says that Fickell will stay on Meyer’s staff as an assistant. Additionally, UF strength coach Mickey Marotti is expected to become OSU’s Director of Football Operations, the station reported.
One source with knowledge of the situation told CFT earlier this week that while it’s not a signed, sealed and delivered deal -- still -- it will be in short order and that an official announcement will come next week. Meyer, as he’s done on at least a couple of occasions over the past couple of weeks, has denied reports that he has landed the job, but did so in an open-ended statement that’s very much open to interpretation.
“I have not been offered any job nor is there a deal in place. I plan on spending Thanksgiving with my family and will not comment on this any further,” Meyer said in his latest statement.
(Translation: let my family and I enjoy the holiday before I jump headfirst back into the coaching game. Thanks in advance. Urbz)
Meyer can deny the reports and speculation all he wants, but one thing has become crystal clear: barring an unexpected development, the Ohio-born coach will become the next head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes at some point in the not-too-distant future, likely, as we’ve noted previously, before the calendar flips from November to December.
UPDATED 12:05 p.m. ET: The conflicting reports keep rolling in. The Columbus Dispatch is reporting via “two well-placed sources at Ohio State” that Meyer will be announced as the new head coach at tOSU sometime next week. The details of Meyer’s supposed contract haven’t been decided upon yet.