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Ohio State Football: Urban Meyer considering spring practices in Florida?

By Patrick Schmidt

Nov 28, 2015; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer and Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh prior to the game at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 28, 2015; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer and Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh prior to the game at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Ohio State Buckeyes could be taking a page out of the playbook of Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines and have spring practices in Florida.

Jim Harbaugh got some people upset as Jim Harbaugh tends to do when he announced during a National Signing Day event that his Michigan football team would conduct part of their spring football practices during spring break on the campus of IMG Academy.

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The move down south was met with some hesitation from SEC and ACC football fans who felt threatened their recruiting territory was being unfairly invaded. There is no rule prohibiting Michigan from practicing during spring break or in Florida, but SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, ACC commissioner John Swofford expressed the need for some tweaks in the rule book.

NCAA president Mark Emmert wasn’t as critical but said there could be a new rule put in place to prevent student-athletes from practicing during spring break. But that rule better get passed in a hurry because Urban Meyer has an interest in going to Florida next spring with his Ohio State football team.

Meyer, the former head coach of the Florida Gators was asked his thoughts on Harbaugh’s spring break and if it would be something Ohio State could adopt.

“I think it’s creative,” Meyer told Sara Perlman of WUFT-TV. “I’m looking into it for next year and maybe the future, too. It’s creative and if it’s good for the players, we’ll probably do it.”

Surprisingly, the world didn’t explode after an Ohio State football coach complimented the coach of the school up north.

But Meyer is correct, it was a creative approach by Harbaugh to get out of chilly Ann Arbor and to the Sunshine State where he can be front and center with some of the top recruits in the nation at the high school powerhouse of IMG Academy.

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If Ohio State were to practice in Florida next spring it would further enhance the pipeline Meyer has built that ushers in a few recruits from the state to make the move up north to play for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State plucked Nick Bosa out of Florida last class to follow in the footsteps of older brother Joey Bosa and they already have commitments from IMG Academy products in Marcus Williamson and Isaiah Pryor.

If it’s good for Michigan, it could be great for Ohio State.

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