5 most controversial moments of Urban Meyer's career

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Urban Meyer's controversial moments in his college career

#1 - Urban Meyer's suspension in 2018

Urban Meyer's disdain for women did not begin in the NFL. It was part of a pattern from college and there should have been sufficient red flags for any team hiring him. The Jacksonville Jaguars seemingly ignored them all, at their own peril and cost.

Urban Meyer was suspended for the first three games of Ohio State's 2018 season. The reason was disturbing as it has proved to be illuminating, pointing to his future behavior. His assistant Zach Smith got an order of protection from his ex-wife Courtney Smith. He was later fired when it all became public knowledge.

Despite his proximity to Zach Smith, whom he had hired initially as a graduate assistant in Florida, Urban Meyer sought to avoid all culpability and claimed he knew nothing of the situation despite all evidence pointing to the contrary. In fact, when Zach Smith was first accused of domestic violence, it was when both he and Urban Meyer were with the Gators. Despite such a record, it was Urban Meyer who recruited him to Ohio State and then sought to wash off all responsibility when the controversy erupted again during their time with the Sooners.

#2 - Urban Meyer leaves Ohio State in a mess

After the aforementioned 2018 season, Urban Meyer retired citing health concerns. Now, to be fair to Urban Meyer, neither do we know nor do we claim to know about his personal health. But what we can and must point out is that this had happened before as well (more on that later).

With the benefit of hindsight, we now know that Urban Meyer was not so discomfited while coaching that he had to walk away, only to then turn up in the NFL. He left, presumably, because of the stain on Ohio State that came about because of the Zach Smith saga; one that he had a hand in creating. But this is certainly not the first and last of it as we know only too well from what transpired in Florida.

#3 - Urban Meyer left Florida in a mess as well

Urban Meyer coached Florida before he went to Ohio State. He did not jump ship directly, though. Citing health issues and the need to spend more time with his family, he retired from Florida in 2010. Within a month, however, he was with ESPN working as an analyst and within the span of a year he had joined Ohio State.

It does point to a consistent knack of citing serious health issues, all of which we acknowledge might be real, but then turning up in a different place and doing the same job. It shows how Urban Meyer might get away from creating a mess by using his personal sufferings as a point of leverage. In Florida, he oversaw a program that hid drug test failures, recorded 30 arrests in six seasons, and had star player Percy Harvin attacking his own assistant. And then doing what Urban Meyer has consistently proved he is capable of, walking away.