The Ohio State Buckeyes' controversial, eventful, yet successful season took another turn early Tuesday morning when it was announced that head coach Urban Meyer will retire from coaching after their Rose Bowl matchup against the Washington Huskies. Meyer points to his health issues as the reason behind this shocking decision, as the coach has been dealing with a cyst in his brain for most of his time with Ohio State. Other reports around college football also brought up the drama surrounding Meyer and whether or not he knew about his former assistant's domestic violence issues years ago. The former Florida Gators coach was suspended four games to begin the year due to those issues, and will now step away to focus on his health and family.
The 54-year-old spent seven seasons with the Buckeyes, winning over 90 percent of his games with them, including all seven against the Michigan Wolverines. He won three Big Ten Championships with them, most recently last week against Northwestern, and the 2014 National Championship. Meyer was also very successful with the Gators, winning two National Championships with them, leading him to 186 wins in the past 17 years of coaching. That is more than any other coach in that time span.
Ohio State's athletic director Gene Smith released a statement to reveal the news on Tuesday, while also announcing that Ryan Day would take over the head coaching duties next season. Day was in charge during Meyer's four-game suspension this season, leading the Buckeyes to a 4-0 start without their head coach. Smith admitted to looking across the country for other suitable replacements, but settled on someone who knew the system and the team already. Also, the way Day handled the tough situation at the end of the summer in to the beginning of the season had to impress the program.
This is the third time that Meyer has stepped away from the game due to health issues, doing it twice while with the Gators. For some closer to Ohio State, this had to be coming, as Meyer revealed the news about the cyst in his brain in October of 2014, but has coached through it all. Smith did say that the coach had been debating his career for the past few weeks.
Day will take over as the team's new head coach on January 2nd and will reportedly receive a five-year contract that will pay him $4.5 million per season. The 39-year-old has been with the Buckeyes for the past two seasons, and also worked on Chip Kelly's staff when he was with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers. Meyer will lead Ohio State one last time on New Year's Day against the Pac-12 Champions in Pasadena, California. During a press conference on Tuesday, he was asked if he would ever coach again, in which he responded with "that's a complicated question." So, in other words, this may not be goodbye forever.
The 54-year-old spent seven seasons with the Buckeyes, winning over 90 percent of his games with them, including all seven against the Michigan Wolverines. He won three Big Ten Championships with them, most recently last week against Northwestern, and the 2014 National Championship. Meyer was also very successful with the Gators, winning two National Championships with them, leading him to 186 wins in the past 17 years of coaching. That is more than any other coach in that time span.
Ohio State's athletic director Gene Smith released a statement to reveal the news on Tuesday, while also announcing that Ryan Day would take over the head coaching duties next season. Day was in charge during Meyer's four-game suspension this season, leading the Buckeyes to a 4-0 start without their head coach. Smith admitted to looking across the country for other suitable replacements, but settled on someone who knew the system and the team already. Also, the way Day handled the tough situation at the end of the summer in to the beginning of the season had to impress the program.
This is the third time that Meyer has stepped away from the game due to health issues, doing it twice while with the Gators. For some closer to Ohio State, this had to be coming, as Meyer revealed the news about the cyst in his brain in October of 2014, but has coached through it all. Smith did say that the coach had been debating his career for the past few weeks.
Day will take over as the team's new head coach on January 2nd and will reportedly receive a five-year contract that will pay him $4.5 million per season. The 39-year-old has been with the Buckeyes for the past two seasons, and also worked on Chip Kelly's staff when he was with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers. Meyer will lead Ohio State one last time on New Year's Day against the Pac-12 Champions in Pasadena, California. During a press conference on Tuesday, he was asked if he would ever coach again, in which he responded with "that's a complicated question." So, in other words, this may not be goodbye forever.
