College Football: 25 greatest head coaches of the 21st century
By Dakota Cox
Best college football coaches of 21st century: 2. Urban Meyer
- Bowling Green Falcons (2001-02)
- Utah Utes (2003-04)
- Florida Gators (2005-10)
- Ohio Stae Buckeyes (2012-18)
Urban Meyer’s career as a college football coach has been interesting to say the least. It is incredibly hard to win a championship. The fact that Meyer has done it at two different schools makes it even more impressive.
In the early 2000s, Meyer led Florida to two National Championship games and won them both. He was one of the offensive minds that led Tim Tebow to win a Heisman Trophy. His offenses with Tebow were historic, and Meyer left Florida with a 65-15 record.
When Meyer retired at Florida, many thought he had already cemented his legacy as one of the best coaches of his college football era. However, what he did at Ohio State put him over the top. Meyer took a team under a bowl ban and immediately turned them into a title contender.
Ohio State went 6-7 in their last year without Meyer. In his first season with the Buckeyes, they went 12-0. If they didn’t have the bowl ban, they might have won a national title that season. However, they still overcame the odds in 2014 and won the first College Football Playoff ever.
In this season, Ohio State had to turn to their third string quarterback and still managed to win the national championship. The offense was able to adapt on the fly twice, and Meyer was able to prepare Cardale Jones to beat Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon in three straight high-stakes games.
Many believed that Meyer was actually the best coach of his time after beating Nick Saban in 2014. If he had been able to win another title or two with the Buckeyes, he might have earned that distinction. Either way, you cannot deny the success he has had at his many stops in college football.