Urban Meyer Update

Several sources have informed Buckeye Nation this evening that Urban Meyer is almost a certainty to be the next head coach at Ohio State University.

Headed Home?

Again, this is just a rumor at this point. But the timeline for this news seems to be pretty solid, not including the emails and phone calls we’ve been a part of over the past few hours. Take a gander:

• Earlier last week, Urban released a statement saying that he was not interested in coaching at this time.
• Then on Monday, news broke that he had met with (and declined the offer of) the Athletic Department of the University of Arizona; a meeting that occurred in Miami.
• Yesterday, Ohio State fans began clamoring like a kid listening to the “Santa Report” on the radio on Christmas Eve (c’mon- it wasn’t just me…) tracking a private chartered plane from Gainesville Florida to OSU’s airfield.
• This evening, CBS Sports’ Mike Freeman took some rumblings on the Scout message board and ran with it on twitter, saying that Urban had agreed to a 7 year deal for $35 million total.
• Members of the Ohio press responded by saying that nothing was official yet, and that OSU staff had stated that there was nothing to this rumor at this time.  Key words- “At this time”.
• And yet, the rumors persisted. At about the same time that one of our trusted sources communicated that this was all but done, the team at Eleven Warriors announced with 99.7% certainty “that Urban Meyer has agreed to a deal to become the next coach of Ohio State. Solid sources. Plural.” Major kudos, hat tips, and adult beverages to their team for breaking this.
• Our sources say that the $$/yr. numbers mentioned on Scout don’t echo what they’ve heard, and that the plan is to officially announce this after the first of December or so. This could explain Dr. Gee’s request for a phone conference with the Committee On Infractions during the week of November 28.

So this is where we currently stand. There are still a number of questions to be answered, primarily “Is this accurate?” If it is, though, we will still need to discover the following pieces of information:

• What will be the NCAA’s final ruling on the ongoing investigation, and how might this effect any coaching search?
• What are the final numbers regarding salary, tenure, etc.?
• What will the future coaching staff look like? Will any current Buckeyes be retained?

On this last point- there have been whispers for a while now that Coach Fickell would be glad to stay on board at Ohio State, should he not be retained as head coach and should the new administration extend that offer. There is even speculation that Coach Fickell might be kept on as a “Assistant Head Coach” or “Head Coach In Waiting”- obviously having Urban Meyer as the new head man might strengthen those ideas (given his health concerns and the desire to find better balance between his personal and professional life).
So for now, we wait.  Don’t be surprised to have a number of sources refute this for the next several days, or even if the agreement changes and/or dissipates. We’ve seen that before in major coaching searches, with even solid sources being off base.

But for now, this is where we are: Sources are pointing to Urban Meyer returning to Columbus as the next head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes.