Here we go. Again.
Even before Lynn Swann “stepped down” in September, one vocal school of thought was that USC’s new athletic director, after shedding him/herself of Clay Helton, would put on the full-court press to woo Urban Meyer out of yet another retirement to take over the Trojans football program. In fact, months before that, Meyer-to-USC speculation surfaced roughly a nanosecond after his stepping down as head coach at Ohio State was confirmed.
All of that brings us to the here and now, with reports surfacing Friday that USC has zeroed in on Cincinnati athletic director Mike Bohn as Swann’s replacement, with an official announcement potentially coming as soon as this weekend. Amidst all of that, yet another tidbit has been dropped connecting Meyer and USC, with college football insider Brett McMurphy tweeting that the coach is “undoubtedly” the university’s top choice if/when they replace Helton and they will do “whatever it takes to get him.”
Urban Meyer is “undoubtedly" USC’s No. 1 choice & USC will do "whatever it takes to get him” as its next coach, sources told @Stadium. “We think the guy that can do it is Urban,” source said. "He did it at Utah, Florida & Ohio State, but the question is if he’s really interested"
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) November 1, 2019
It’s not a surprise, at all, that those connected to USC would want to pursue Meyer. As stated, the biggest question will be whether the 55-year-old Meyer would reciprocate the interest.
In response to ongoing USC rumors, Meyer stated in May that "[a]ll I’m going to say is I believe I’m done (coaching). I think I’m done.” Meyer himself helped seed the ensuing speculation when, when asked at his retirement press conference if he was finished with coaching, he replied, “that’s a complicated question“; nearly a month later, he seemingly left the door open ever so slightly yet again when he stated he doesn’t believe he’ll ever coach again.
OSU athletic director Gene Smith has gone on record as saying that he would “have a hard time believing” that Meyer would return to coaching. Former USC running back Reggie Bush, meanwhile, has very publicly stated that he will woo Meyer as the two work as part of FOX Sports’ pregame show.
As for any Bohn-Meyer connections, Bohn has been the AD at Cincinnati since February of 2014 while Meyer played his college football for the Bearcats (one year as a defensive back in 1984) and graduated from the university in 1986. So, there’s that thin string that some will look to tie together.
In the last month alone, Meyer has been connected to jobs at Florida State (HERE), Michigan (HERE), Notre Dame (HERE) and the Dallas Cowboys (HERE).