Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer appeared on the Dan Patrick Show Thursday morning and answered questions about deciding to take a new job, the reaction he’s received from Florida Gators fans and some of his thoughts about Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow.
Below are some of his most interesting responses from the interview. You can listen to the entire 11-minute segment by clicking here.
On if he has been surprised about the reaction he received from Florida fans: “Yeah, I was. I tried to say I didn’t watch or didn’t listen. I did. I heard some of it. Not from Jeremy or the president or the people that know that we put every ounce of everything we had or six years in there. There were fans that were upset when we beat Tennessee only by 10 points. I mean really upset. I tried not to let that bother me, but I would be lying to you if I didn’t say it didn’t bother me a little bit. I heard the word ‘dishonest.’ That couldn’t be the furthest thing from the truth. Yeah, that’s a shame.”
On if he ever thought of not taking the Ohio State job: “Oh yeah. The contact was made on that Sunday, but I kind of was watching all fall and this whole NCAA thing, you just don’t know until you know. I’ve always been an Ohio State fan as far back as I can remember, and a chance to go home [was great]. I’m not going to do something that’s not the right time. Once I was able to visit with people and do the homework I needed to do, it was kind of a no-brainer.”
On if he thought he would be back in the game this soon: “I was planning on giving it more time than one year. Who would ever imagine your home state, Jim Tressel is a great coach. They were doing great things here [so I] never even had any thoughts about that. And then when things started to move, that’s when it all changed.”
[EXPAND Click to expand and read the remainder of this post.]On if OSU is going to be his last job: “I think so. I’m never going to make…I’ve made some comments before that came back to haunt me because you just don’t know. I hope so.”
On how concerned he was about Tebow’s throwing motion: “Big-time. There were a lot of people that recruited him out of high school that said he couldn’t play quarterback, and I was one of them. When I first saw the high school film [from] his junior year, I was very concerned. As a matter of fact – and he gives me a hard time still about it – he wasn’t my top-rated quarterback. And then I watched him play a baseball game and I walked away saying, ‘That’s the most competitive human being I’ve ever seen.’ He moved to the top of the list real fast. And then we had him in a camp, and his competitive will [impressed me]. I’m not one of those guys who believes that because he’s got an elongated throwing motion that has any impact on him winning or losing a game. I’d much rather have that guy who’s going to find a way to get a first down. I was very concerned.”[/EXPAND]
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