Notre Done

So there's been a lot of "riff raff" going on the past year or so regarding the future status of Florida Gators head football coach Urban Meyer. In his biography, Meyer stated that it has always been a dream to one day coach at Notre Dame.In fact, he has a clause in the contract allowing him to bolt from UF to Notre Dame if the opportunity should arise. Because of this information coming to light, a lot of credible sources have been insinuating that Meyer may do exactly that and take his "dream job" at Notre Dame once the Tebow era comes to a close following the end of this season. A lot of experts seem to think that Three National Championships (because we are winning it this year) and a Heisman Trophy winner(maybe two) in Four years would be enough for Meyer to want a chance at starting over, a chance to rebuild another program much like what he accomplished at Bowling Green, Utah and finally Florida. Before getting into my argument, I'd like to take a minute to look at Meyer's uber-success in the NCAA.

As a coach, Meyer has reached the pinnacle of success with every program he's been a part of. Beginning with his first coaching gig at Bowling Green in 2001, Meyer was responsible for one of the biggest turnarounds in NCAA Division I-A football that year, taking the Falcons from a 2-9 record to an 8-3 record in his first season. This six-win improvement gave Bowling Green its first winning season since 1994. As a result, Meyer was named the 2001 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year. The following season he guided BGSU to a 9-3 record and landed highest national ranking in school history (No. 16 ESPN/USA Today and No. 20 Associated Press) spending five weeks in the national polls. As almost a prelude of things to come at Florida, BGSU finished third in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 40.8 points per game while becoming the highest scoring team in MAC history. They also finished ninth in the nation in total offense (448.9 ypg) and 11th in rushing offense (219.1 ypg) in 2002. They were the only team in the nation to average at least 215 yards rushing and 215 yards passing per game and led the nation in red zone production, scoring on 61 of 63 trips (96.8%) inside the 20-yard line, including 52 touchdowns.

Defensively, Meyer was equally successful ranking first in the MAC in scoring defense (19.5 ppg), rushing defense (86.3 ypg) and total defense (319.5 ypg) in 2001. Bowling Green also led the MAC in turnover margin both years under Meyer. In two years at Bowling Green, Meyer was 17-6 and 5-0 mark against BCS teams with two wins over ranked opponents.

This success led to his next promotion as he became the head coach at the Univeristy of Utah in 2003. Much like the situation at BGSU, Utah was coming off of a losing season (5-6), and much like at BGSU Meyer responded by leading Utah to a 10-2 record and and outright MWC title (their first sicne 1957) and a no. 21 ranking in that years' final AP Poll. Utah won five more games than the previous year and tied national champion LSU as the fifth-most improved team in the nation. Even more impressively, Meyer was able to achieve this against one of the tougher schedules in school history. The Utes went up against Pac-10 contenders Oregon and California(the Ducks were ranked No. 19 when Utah won in a 17-13 upset) while managing to beat perennial Mountain West Conference powers Colorado State, Air Force and Brigham Young for the first time in 10 years. They ended the season with a 17-0 victory over Conference USA champion Southern Mississippi. Meyer was the only coach in Utah's 110-year football history to win a conference championship in his first year. This led to Meyer being named the National Coach of the Year by The Sporting News.

The 2003 season was considered by many as the greatest season in Utah history...well that was until the following year where Meyer and the Utes went an unprecedented 12-0 earning a spot in that years' Fiesta Bowl. This was the first time a non-BCS school earned a BCS bid, and if that wasn't enough, Meyer won. He upset the Pittsburgh Panthers and proved to the nation that the little guys could hang with the big guys. Following this monumental victory Meyer saw his next opportunity before him, replacing Ron Zook and taking the reigns at the University of Florida.

I think we all know what happens from here....two National Championships and a Heisman later, Meyer is responsible for one of the most successful football programs over the past decade and is on the verge of winning yet another National Championship this season. His 2008 team was the first in SEC history to score 30 or more points against every SEC Opponent. He was at the top of the SEC rankings in Offense, Defense and Special teams, and somehow managed to have an even more successful season than Steve Spurrier's Fun and Gun Gators of 1996. I remember when I first got to UF, when older students would regale me with stories of the Spurrier era and how we would routinely score 50 points a game. It seemed like a dream to me, something that we would never see again. That was until 2008, when we started beating teams by scores of 56-3 and 70-10. The difference between Meyer and Spurrrier is that Meyer has an incredible defense to complement his offense. A ot of the points the Gators scored last season were off of Defense and Special Teams, this was something that Spurrier never emphasized during his tenure at UF. So why would the guy ever think of leaving to take on a lowly Notre Dame team? Short Answer: He wouldn't.

This past weekend Meyer put an end to speculation of him leaving UF after the season with this quote:

"I'm not going to Notre Dame. Ever. I'm going to be the coach at Florida for a long time, as
long as they will have me."

Some people think Meyer only said this to help his recruiting while he stays at Florida. Alot of other teams have been using his ties to Notre Dame against him when trying to land the same recruits as Florida. Like, they will tell a top recruit that they shouldn't even consider Florida because Meyer will be gone after this season. This becomes a problem for the Florida football program, so it is understandable that something needed to be said. However, since becoming the head coach at Florida, Meyer as always been a man of his word and I see no reason why it wouldn't be the case in this situation.

Now, I know Meyer began his coaching career at Notre Dame and has always had a soft spot for them. I realize Meyer is addicted to new challenges and the thought of being able to transform a team, His team, that was once the mecca of college football, back in to a national powerhouse is nothing short of tempting. But I also realize that Notre Dame isn't what it used to be. In fact, Notre Dame represents everything that is wrong with college football today.

For starters, Notre Dame refuses to be part of a BCS conference, yet they get treated like a BCS team every year. There is even a special rule in the BCS that says if Notre Dame is ranked 12th or higher in the BCS rankings, they get into a BCS Bowl game. They also get to make their own schedule, where they usually sign up to play 8 easy games so they are assured a winning record and a bowl bid every year. This is ridiculous, Notre Dame gets to just sit around "eating cheeseburgers" while other teams are going through grueling schedules in attempts to earn bowl bids. Why doesn't ND just join a BCS conference? Is it because they want to keep tradition? No. It is because they are greedy. See, when a BCS schools wins a BCS bowl or a National Championship, all of the money they receive for playing gets split up equally amongst the entire conference. So when Florida won last year, the SEC all shared the profits from the win. So by not joining a conference, if (and this is a pretty big 'if') Notre Dame ever wins a National Championship(or even a bowl game...) they get to keep all the earnings for themselves. I know what you're thinking: "Good for them, they should get to keep all the money for winning, its not like the other teams helped them win or anything," and to an extent, this argument makes sense. If the USA is a country based on free enterprise then why is the BCS rooted in communist principles? But what you are forgetting is that Notre Dame is a catholic school. Wait, Notre Dame is THE catholic school. They are a part of the same catholic church that is considered the richest organization in the entire world.

So is funding really that big of an issue at Notre Dame? No. They are just greedy bastards and it sickens me. It's funny though, since the BCS began in 1997, Notre Dame has only one bowl win (Hawaii in 2008). In fact, since 1994, Notre Dame's bowl record is 1-13! Dismal. Maybe its karma for a greedy organization and a sign that they need to join an actual conference. There are so many conferences right now that are dying for extra teams so they can have a conference championship (ahem...the big ten). It almost makes too much sense. ND is located in the Midwest. They already play Michigan, Michigan St. and Purdue every year. The Big Ten has 11 schools currently, meaning one more school would give them enough teams for two divisions and a conference championship. Notre Dame, get off your high horse and join the Big Ten. Maybe then you will finally have a legitimate argument to play in a BCS Bowl because scraping wins against Army, Navy, and Duke just isn't cutting it anymore....just ask Utah (Undefeated and still not even a chance at a National Championship).

...But I digress, we were talking about Urban Meyer and why he would ever leave college football paradise for an old, used, and abused program like Notre Dame. Urban Meyer has it made at Florida. First off, Florida is a recruiter's dream. One thing about the south is that its climate is mild year round. This means that kids are playing football in the middle of December. As a result, you have what I like to call a "hot bed". Kids coming out of high school that are better prepared for football because they get to play more than kids coming from northern climates. Case in point: Florida has some of the best available talent in the nation. Meyer essentially has his pick of the litter and doesn't have to travel more than 200 miles in any direction to find it. Contrast that with Notre Dame's recruiting situation, where they have to scouer all corners of the nation in search of recruits. Why would Meyer want to spend all of his offseason traveling when he currently has the best talent in his own backyard?

Second, Meyer is a pretty active individual. He likes to golf, he likes to run, and most importantly, he likes football. There is no better place to be if you like the outdoors than in the state of Florida. Heading back to Indiana would mean frigid winters and less time to hit the links. He has also established quite a life in Gainesville; he is an active part of the community, his children go to school in the town and he has more money than he knows what to do with. Even if Notre Dame comes at him with serious cash, guess what, Florida is already going to make him the highest paid coach in college football, so what does it matter? If its more money he is looking for, the only place to find it is in the pros.

Third, he is already a god a Florida. I dont see the point in going somewhere else and risk tainting an already unbeleivable career. He has arguably passed Steve Supprier as the greatest coach in Florida history, and I think if he stays, he will go down as one of the greatest coaches in NCAA history. You will see his name right up there with Bear Bryant, Woody Hayes and Pete Carroll. It just seems to me that this is the smartest move he could make. If he wants to be remembered as one of the all time greats at the college level, he will stay in Florida. If he doesnt, then there's always the NFL. Either way, it looks like Notre Dame is S-O-L if they ever think they are going to get the Urban Legend.



Urban facts courtesy of: http://utahutes.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/meyer_urban00.html

Thats it, hope you enjoyed this rant. Until next time...