The Football Blitz

Looking at the accomplishments of Urban Meyer at just 45 years of age, one has to wonder what is left for him to accomplish. He has been a very successful head coach at three different colleges, won two BCS National Championships and has even won coach of the year. He is currently the head football coach at the University of Florida and ranked #1 in the country. He has only lost 17 total games as a head coach in nine seasons. A very impressive statistic for his resume.

Meyer played football at the University of Cincinnati and earned is bachelor’s degree in psychology. Something he uses today to motivate his players. He utilizes his learning and conforms his coaching style to each individual player to maximize their utmost potential. He began his coaching career as an intern at St. X High School in Cincinnati, OH where he met coaches from Ohio State and in 1986 began coaching as an assistant there. He also worked as an assistant at Illinois State, Colorado State and Notre Dame. He took his first head coaching job in 2001 at Bowling Green in Ohio. He masterminded one of the best NCAA turnarounds at Bowling Green with a combined overall two year record of 17-6 and won the Mid-American Conference coach of the year award before being named the head coach at Utah in 2003.

Meyer’s first year at Utah he was named the Mountain West Conference coach of the year and the Sporting News National Coach of the year with a record of 10-2. That was the best record a first year coach had ever obtained at Utah. His second season at Utah he led the Utes to their first ever BCS bid in the Fiesta Bowl beating Pittsburg in their bowl game to complete a perfect season. He did coach the Utes in the bowl game that season, but was also being pursued by Notre Dame and Florida, both who were looking for new head coaches.

Eventually Meyer chose to coach at Florida signing a seven year contract worth $14 million dollars in 2005. Two years later he was given a 6 year contract extension which paid him an average of $3.25 million dollars a year. Most recently in August of 2009, Meyer become the highest paid coach in the SEC with an additional six year extension worth $24 million dollars. Meyer has led the Gators to two National Championships (2006, 2008). He is 3-1 in bowl games while coaching at Florida and has achieved an overall record of 48-9.

It’s obvious to anyone that on paper this coach looks to be as good as it gets, but it is his personal philosophy on coaching and family that makes the coach appear more human and not just a football machine. He keeps it real and goes back to the roots showing humility to all who encounter him. He is a great coach who is highly regarded in his field and will most certainly be considered a legendary coach that was one of the best. Below is a video of Meyer speaking of his program at Florida, discussing how he motivates his players and what is important to him. A great look into the University of Florida football Program.