REPORT: Texas And Urban Meyer's Flirtation Has Ended And Will Not Result In A Job
Last Sunday, I blogged the news that Shelley Meyer was "looking at Austin real estate. It was the purest college football news story of the year for me.
>Big school
>Semi-retired big coach
>Big school fed up with coach after a few too many losses
>Rumors emerge about semi-retired big coach interest in the job and boosters putting together "buy out fund" for current coach
This week, we saw Texas message boards breaking down how they thought Urban was at an Austin resort based on curtains, windows, and ceiling fans.
It's all led to nothing according to a report from 247Sports tonight:
SOURCE-The possibility of three-time national championship coach Urban Meyer ending up at Texas appears to have come to an end after Meyer indicated to Texas he's leaning toward not coaching again due to health reasons, a university source told Horns247. Horns247 reported Sunday if Texas couldn't land Meyer, there’s a chance Tom Herman will remain as coach of the Texas Longhorns.
"There was an opportunity here too good not to pursue with Urban (Meyer)," the university source said. "If he's a definite no, we just need to step back and assess."
Who knows if this is just smoke for Urban to get more money, but this report isn't necessarily a shot in the dark. We know that Urban has had health issues throughout his career and the stress of going to Texas? Not really worth it unless you're 100% healthy.
We are in coach hiring season, so take any report with a grain of salt. This could be contract negotiations done through the media, which we've seen before.
Where could Texas go if they don't get Urban Meyer? Here are some options according to 247:
Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, Oregon coach Mario Cristobal, Penn State coach James Franklin and Iowa State coach Matt Campbell are among the coaches Texas has researched, according to sources.
That's an ambitious list.