There is no debate to be had. Urban Meyer is the single worst coach in the history of the NFL. Not only was he bad at his job, he didn’t even make an effort to hide the fact that he didn’t care that he was bad at his job.
I know all of the names you are thinking of: Bobby Petrino, Dave Shula, Rod Rust, Rod Marinelli, Cam Cameron. None of them hold a candle to the utter incompetence Urban Meyer showed for the job while spending 2021 in Jacksonville.
Still, I am not surprised that FOX is turning back to Meyer to be the coaching expert on Big Noon Kickoff. Argue all you want that he has lost credibility with football fans, but do not pretend this is shocking.
The second it was clear there would be no season number two for him in Jacksonville, FOX properties went to work framing Meyer as the victim of a town and team that just didn’t understand football.
Brady Quinn threw a temper tantrum on FOX Sports Radio’s 2 Pros and a Cup of Joe last year when the media asked Meyer about the dysfunction in his locker room. After Jason Jenks and Mike Sando dropped their exhaustive behind-the-scenes look at the Jaguars’ 2021 season for The Athletic in March, Dan Dakich lobbed the softest of softballs at Meyer in an interview for the FOX-owned Outkick.com.
This is the pretend-to-be-a-victim playbook and FOX is an old pro at it. It doesn’t matter what reality is. Insist that cancel culture is to blame for your guy’s failure, be loud about it, and call anyone that disagrees woke.
It is the script for literally every segment of every show on FOX News. All the network brass needed to do was have an intern run a copy down the hall for FOX Sports to make it work.
Here’s the other reason you shouldn’t be surprised Urban Meyer is back on Big Noon Kickoff in 2022: he fits everything that show is trying to be.
What does FOX want people to see when they compare Big Noon Kickoff to ESPN’s College GameDay? The network wants viewers to notice that there is more football and less fluff. It wants them to notice that everyone on the dais was active in the sport more recently than their counterparts on ESPN, and it wants them to notice the unimpeachable credentials.
College GameDay has plenty of fluff, however you may define that. Is it the tearjerker video packages? Is it the over-the-top backslapping laughter? Whatever it is, you won’t find it on Big Noon Saturday.
Urban Meyer may be the perfect picture of that. He’s here to talk ball and only ball!
His return nearly doubles the number of championships (from 4 back up to 7) amongst the Big Noon cast. Add the Heisman Trophy that Tim Tebow won while playing for Meyer to the ones held by Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush, and it doesn’t matter how many more people are watching GameDay each week. There is a level of college football history on FOX’s set that ESPN just cannot match. That is how you make inroads.
On top of all of that, Urban Meyer is pretty good on TV. He wasn’t great in the broadcast booth for ESPN after leaving Florida, but in the studio, he has found his ideal role. He is good at explaining situations and plays to viewers.
Think of the timing of announcing his return too. FOX is in the middle of stunting on ESPN over the way the Big Ten media rights negotiations shook out. Beginning next football season, Big Ten football will be absent from ESPN for the first time in over 40 years.
Sure, Meyer has experience in the SEC, winning two national titles with Tim Tebow at the University of Florida. But don’t get it twisted. Most Florida fans can’t stand Urban Meyer. They think he is a phony that ran scared when Nick Saban turned Alabama into a juggernaut and the job got harder.
Urban Meyer is still a patron saint in Columbus, Ohio. He is the last Big Ten coach to win a national championship. Putting him back at the center of Big Noon Kickoff is a line in the sand. If college football is a battle between the SEC and the Big Ten, then FOX is letting the world know that it is proudly a Big Ten stronghold.
I am 100 percent out on Big Noon Kickoff because I cannot imagine being even 1 percent in on Urban Meyer. He has absolutely zero credibility to talk about coaching or leadership. But, I am just one guy. There may be others like me, but we aren’t who FOX is targeting.
It’s nice that Meyer is good on TV, but that is a secondary concern for the network. Re-hiring the guy is a branding move. It is red meat for the audience FOX wants.
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
