“That became exhausting to me”: Urban Meyer spills the beans on the hard part of head coaching Ohio State

Sometimes a strength can be also a liability, and that's what Urban Meyer found out while working at Ohio State. According to the coach, one of the hardest things he had to deal with while at Columbus was when established and successful coaches joined his staff.

According to him, usually, people come in with a burning desire to bring new methodologies and to change the status quo. That's all well and good when a program needs a revamp. But when it happens at a healthy program with a long history of success, it can erode the foundations that have allowed the program to reach said heights.

Recently, in the "Triple Option" podcast, Meyer said:

"You know what happens when you want to hire an elite coach? They want to do it their way and that is really hard. To the point where I actually put up signs around the wall, 'Enhance the program,' and that means do not change ... you can't change what we are.

"The culture, the core values, the way we go about our business, the way we work, the way we practice. You hire people to do it differently and they keep, they keep, 'Let's change this.' And what I would say is, 'Don't use the word 'change,' if you wanna say a better way of doing that, then show me and let's do it,' and that became exhausting to me."

Urban Meyer on why losing a great coach can be worse than losing a star player

Always dispensing wisdom in his podcast, on Wednesday's episode, Urban Meyer spoke about what losing a coach can mean for a program. He even went so far as to say that the loss can be greater than that of a player:

“Losing a great player is expected because great players are fluid, you know, they come and go. You know, it’s just the way it works. You get them for three years, and they go to the NFL Draft.

“If you don’t replace that great coach, the wear and tear on the head coach is overwhelming.”

While some might point out that Urban Meyer, as a former coach, overestimates the importance of his fellow coaches, a close examination of college football dynasties would show him right.

People associate Alabama with Nick Saban, Georgia with Kirby Smart, Michigan with Jim Harbaugh, and Florida or Ohio State with Meyer himself, not with the players they coached. Long-term success in college football is rooted in a great head coach.