Reggie Bush may be preparing to make his best sales pitches to Urban Meyer in an attempt to lure the national championship head coach to USC at his earliest convenience, but Meyer’s previous boss doesn’t seem to think that will be happening. In a report from USA Today, Ohio State Athletics Director Gene Smith says he doesn’t think Meyer will make another return to coaching despite what seems to be a pretty popular idea floating around the college football world.
“I have a hard time believing that,” Smith said in the story from George Schroeder of USA Today. Although, Smith did concede that it would be unwise to suggest with 100% certainty Meyer is done coaching for good.
“You can never say never,” Smith added.
Meyer retired from his position as head coach of Ohio State after the Rose Bowl victory over Washington last January. The retirement came at the end of a season that saw a Big Ten title defense and a late bid for a potential spot in the College Football Playoff, but was otherwise marred by the distraction off the field regarding the handling of former wide receivers coach Zach Smith. Regardless of the circumstances, Meyer capped his time at Ohio State with a Rose Bowl victory to go along with a number of other achievements in Columbus, including multiple Big Ten titles and a College Football Playoff national championship.
Meyer is now preparing for a new job as a college football studio analyst with FOX Sports, where he will be working alongside Bush. Bush has joked he plans to help convince Meyer to return to coaching to take over as head coach of the USC Trojans, with a cloud of uncertainty hovering above current Trojans head coach Clay Helton. Now that Meyer is already getting cozy in Los Angeles, the rumor mill could be in full operation soon enough, as if it isn’t already.
But for now, Smith feels confident in suggesting we may have seen the last of Meyer coaching on the sidelines. Time will tell, and a quick return to coaching after retirement is not abnormal for Meyer. Meyer spent one season working for ESPN after retiring from Florida before he was hired to be the head coach at Ohio State.