"I don't wanna get shocked": When Urban Meyer revealed he's kept a 'notebook' of coaches to prepare for his dream job

Even now, working as a TV analyst, Urban Meyer is considered one of the biggest names among college football coaches. It wasn’t always that way, as Meyer had to climb up the coaching ranks from his humble beginnings at Bowling Green.

We look back at an episode of "Urban Analysis" on the Big Ten Network from five years ago when Meyer shared what it was like building his first coaching staff.

“When I was interviewing, I had always kept a notebook of coaches that I worked with because I thought I could maybe get an opportunity, I worked to get an opportunity to be a head coach, I don’t wanna get shocked,” Urban Meyer said. “So, I had a D coordinators, offensive coordinators, quarterback coaches (lists) that I come across either recruiting, worked with.”

One challenge the former Florida and Ohio State coach faced was that he had limited resources at the start. Meyer was also an unknown at that point, so he had to find some creative ways to fill out each position.

However, he had enough connections and met enough coaches to build a solid staff from the start.

“My first hire was Dan Mullen," Meyer said. "He was my graduate assistant at Notre Dame, and then you try to hire people you know. People you work with or someone that strongly recommends. For example, I know you very well, Gerry (DiNardo). If you said, ‘Hey, look at this guy’, I’ll look at him.”

Meyer also tried to get a couple of strong coaches on the staff to help with recruiting efforts, especially on programs that didn’t have the big-name impact of big schools.

Urban Meyer kept the defensive coordinator at every program he coached

One thing the former Utah coach was able to do was keep the defensive coordinator once he arrived at a new program: Tim Beckman at Bowling Green, Kyle Whittingham at Utah, Charlie Strong at Florida and Luke Fickell at Ohio State.

While it worked for him, it's not a common practice, but he made it work at every stop. With Meyer being an offensive mind, it suited him well.

“I never really planned on it," Meyer said. "I’m not a big fan of firing people I never (met). That’s one of the hardest things you’ll ever do. You walk into a place, and you start letting people go. I know people gave me a benefit of the doubt.”

In the end, Meyer did alright. With three national championships, building the original BCS buster in Utah and this year’s Hall of Fame induction, his approach worked well from start to finish.