It’s nothing short of hilarious that Urban Meyer has only completed one signing class as Ohio State’s head coach and is already ticking off Big Ten coaches for disregarding their “gentlemen’s agreement” and doing what any smart coach should be doing: recruiting until that letter of intent is signed and faxed.
Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema, the supposed target of “Operation Bratwurst”, indicated that Meyer’s recruiting conduct was perhaps venturing into “illegal” territory. That seems to be more to the core of Bielema’s discontent, despite the fact that his boss, Barry Alvarez, has stated publicly that he has no issue with Meyer’s recruiting tenacity.
Another victim of Meyer’s brass-knuckle recruiting style, Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio, has also backed off the signing day uproar. Dantonio was quoted that day as implying that Meyer’s recruiting was “pretty unethical.”
Today, Dantonio released a statement clarifying the remark:
“There’s a need to correct some inaccurate news accounts that have appeared over the last two days. Let me be clear: some general recruiting statements I made were completely taken out of context when combined together by a reporter not in attendance. The timing of my comments was a reflection of an occurring matter on Signing Day and had nothing to do with Urban Meyer and Ohio State. My comments regarding ‘unethical’ behavior were general in nature, according to my current coaching philosophy, and not directed toward any particular institution.”
The quote, which was supposedly taken out of context, was “They’ve got a new coach, and it’s different... I would say it’s pretty unethical, in the end.”
You can be the judge of what Dantonio meant, but the general consensus two days later is that, as long as Meyer didn’t do anything illegal, then his actions were fair game and justifiable.