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“Top to bottom, I think Texas is the best team in the country.”
Texas received high praise from former national champion head coach Urban Meyer this week. Continue reading “Urban Meyer believes Texas is the No. 1 team in the country”
We wished this too Teddy #GoBucks
The 2006 [autotag]Ohio State football[/autotag]team entered the [autotag]BCS national championship[/autotag] game as a touchdown favorite and appeared poised to run away with the title.
Heisman Trophy winner [autotag]Troy Smith[/autotag] led an offense that boasted star receiver [autotag]Ted Ginn Jr.[/autotag] among others. The Glenville pair made their marks in Columbus, but couldn’t bring home a title.
Recently, Netflix released “[autotag]Swamp Kings[/autotag],” a documentary looking at Florida’s rise and fall under former Buckeye head coach [autotag]Urban Meyer[/autotag]. If you watched like I did, it brought out some not so favorable memories about that title game.
It seems Ginn watched as well and took to X, the website formerly known as Twitter, to let everyone know his feelings.
If I didn’t get hurt, we would of won this game. #swampkings #untold @netflix
— Ted Ginn Jr (@TedGinnJr_19) September 11, 2023
It’s hard to argue with Ginn. The Buckeyes offense looked completely off without their best deep threat after he was hurt celebrating his opening kickoff house call. Unfortunately, this what if scenario for Ohio State fans still stings to this day.
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Contact/Follow @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Michael Chen on X.
You know what this really means, right?
Any and every chance that Urban Meyer has to slurp on Ohio State, he does. Every chance he has to put down Michigan football, he does.
And on Friday night, he didn’t do either. Really.
At halftime during the Michigan State vs. Central Michigan game on FS1, the Big Noon Kickoff crew made their College Football Playoff picks. Matt Leinart had the Wolverines in the playoff, but not winning it all. Meyer came on next and when he had an opportunity to select OSU as in and winning it all, he uncharacteristically punted, instead saying the winner of ‘The Game’ will be in and win a national championship.
— doodleBob (@313clips) September 2, 2023
While that may be true, when have you ever known Meyer to not outright proclaim the Buckeyes as the likely better team? We’ve certainly seen other analysts pick Ohio State, or even Penn State, as in, and Michigan as out.
Yet, that’s not what Meyer is doing here.
Our opinion? He knows that the Buckeyes might not be as strong as usual, plus he’s seen Michigan — in his mind — inexplicably run them off the field the past two years. And many are saying this is Jim Harbaugh’s best team.
Let the season begin.
Urban Meyer picked LSU to beat Florida State, and he’s considering the Tigers as a CFP team.
Recent NFL tenure notwithstanding, Urban Meyer knows what it takes to win at a high level.
The former Florida and Ohio State coach won three national titles during his college coaching career, and he sees Brian Kelly’s team as one that could be of that caliber.
On a recent episode of “Urban’s Take with Tim May,” Meyer picked the Tigers to beat Florida State in Week 1, and he seems to be entertaining picking LSU to make the College Football Playoff.
“We’re gonna pick our final four on Big Noon this week,” he said, per On3. “I’m not quite finished with it. I keep watching film this week and reading up on some of the teams. But LSU, they’ve got a fine coach in Brian Kelly. I coached against LSU. I always tell people, ‘They just look different.’
“They’re so talented and that hasn’t stopped,” he said. “NFL player ratio, they’re right at the top right now. So that’s gonna be a very talented team. I pick LSU in this game.”
LSU hopes it has a CFP ceiling in 2023, and that begins with a matchup against a top-10 opponent in Florida State.
Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.
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Urban Meyer is confident in this Texas offense.
Former championship winning head coach Urban Meyer was recently discussing the Texas roster ahead of the 2023 season and had very high praise for the team.
The buzz around the Longhorns has been growing and growing as the season approaches, with Texas being favored in all but one game and expected to win the Big 12. The hype has gone from Texas fans praising their own team, to analysts and experts hopping on the hype train as well.
The latest to do so was former Florida and Ohio State head coach, Urban Meyer. When talking to Tim May of Lettermen Row, Meyer raved about how deep this Texas team was.
“They are loaded. There’s a five-star athlete at every position on offense.”
Meyer is correct, as this Longhorns team is the deepest squad we have seen since 2009 headlined by five-star quarterback Quinn Ewers. Joining Ewers is one of the best receiver corps in the country, a stacked running back room with four and five-stars littered throughout, and an offensive line that is one of the best units in college football.
Texas will be putting their new loaded offense on display come Sept. 2. As for Meyer, he is one of the analysts for Fox Sports and can be seen previewing games each Saturday.
“If Quinn Ewers doesn’t go down, I believe Texas beats Alabama and the whole 2022 season is completely different.”
A three-time national champion head coach is high on the Texas Longhorns’ prospects in 2023. He thinks the team would have been great last season if outside circumstances did not upend the Longhorns’ season.
Former Ohio State and Florida head coach Urban Meyer said the following of the Texas Longhorns’ deep roster.
“They are loaded. There’s a 5 star athlete at every position on offense. I watched them against Alabama last year. They should have won that game. If Quinn Ewers doesn’t go down, I believe Texas beats Alabama and the whole 2022 season is completely different.”
There’s no way of knowing what would have happened if Ewers stayed healthy all of last season. What is clear is this team has the pieces to be special in its own right. When Meyer says the Longhorns have a five-star at every offensive position it’s hardly hyperbole.
Five-star quarterback Quinn Ewers leads a talented backfield with five-star Cedric Baxter Jr. set to back up Jonathon Brooks at running back. Xavier Worthy, a former On3 five-star, leads a receiver room that also houses freshman five-star Johntay Cook. Add Ja’Tavion Sanders, Kelvin Banks and Devon Campbell into that elusive class.
Texas has recruited four-stars in bulk for several seasons, but never has it had the elite talent it currently has across the board. It will look to overwhelm with its five-star talent in the upcoming months.
Urban Meyer to @TIM_MAYsports on Texas: "They are loaded. There's a 5 star athlete at every position on offense.
I watched them against Alabama last year. They should have won that game.
If Quinn Ewers doesn't go down, I believe Texas beats Alabama and the whole 2022 season…
— Joe Cook (@josephcook89) August 22, 2023
Urban Meyer is high on the Tigers entering the season, and home-field advantage is part of the reason for it.
Urban Meyer knows a thing or two about how difficult it is to win at Tiger Stadium.
The former national championship-winning coach at Florida and Ohio State made three trips to Death Valley while with the Gators, and during “Urban’s Take with Tim May,” Meyer offered a lot of praise for the environment.
He’s optimistic about the direction LSU is heading in under Brian Kelly. Between Kelly’s leadership and the home-field advantage of Tiger Stadium, Meyer sees the Tigers as a team that can compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
“I think LSU has a fine coach,” Meyer said, per On3. “I think he adapted much quicker than I thought. LSU is a tough ass place to play. He’s a good tough coach now. So I got Texas and LSU are two teams that I see them, if not in playoff, they’re gonna be right there.”
LSU will hope that Meyer, who won the CFP’s first championship following the 2014 season, is ultimately right about this team’s ceiling.
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Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.
Follow Tyler to continue the conversation on Twitter: @TylerNettuno
One of the best things a head football coach can do is hire great assistants.
Today is the last day for former Notre Dame defensive coordinator Barry Alvarez as Wisconsin’s athletic director. Effective July 1 he will officially be retired after spending the last nearly 30 years at Wisconsin as head football coach and eventually athletic director after being the defensive coordinator for Lou Holtz and the Irish.
Alvarez’s resume after leaving Notre Dame is mighty impressive considering he took Wisconsin from a bottom-feeder of the Big Ten to a perennial Rose Bowl threat.
As great as Alvarez was at Wisconsin both as their head football coach and athletic director, it’s hard to call him the most successful after leaving Notre Dame.
In no particular order, here are five former Notre Dame assistant coaches that went on to grand things away from the golden dome, and who you perhaps weren’t even aware once coached the Irish.
Urban Meyer talks College Football Playoff implications of Big Ten expansion.
Urban Meyer can’t help but think given the Big Ten’s recent expansion of four teams, that the pathway for teams competing to get into the Big Ten Championship Game has gotten increasingly difficult.
With the increased talent level in the Big Ten comes some serious questions about if the conference is now squeezing out the middle-tier teams and has become too top-heavy. USC and Oregon have consistently been ranked programs over the past decade and are often College Football Playoff contenders. UCLA is a historically strong program as is Washington.
In an appearance this week on Colin Cowherd’s show on FS1, former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer talked about the fallout of the suddenly deep Big Ten. Meyer doesn’t just feel for the fans of programs that might now get shut out of the conference championship picture, but also the coaches of these programs.
“How about the coaches? All of a sudden now the Big Ten West – you had Iowa, you had Wisconsin, you had a Minnesota -those teams all compete for a chance to go to the championship game -Northwestern went to the championship game,” Meyer said on ‘The Herd.’
“If they eliminate divisions, and you add Oregon, Washington, UCLA, USC, you know what happens to the Wisconsins? What happens to the Michigan States? What happens to those teams that are really good programs, but they’re just a notch below? Do they drop even further below in the conference? Now those are the questions that if I’m a coach at one of those places. If they eliminate divisions. What chance do I have of getting my program to the Big Ten Championship Game, which is everyone’s goal? Because it just got a hell of a lot harder.”
Meyer is now a college football analyst with Fox Sports. he was 83-9 in seven seasons as head coach of Ohio State (and won the 2014 national championship with the Buckeyes).
With the addition of Oregon and Washington, the Big Ten now stands at 18 teams. There is speculation that the conference could add two more teams and potentially add targets from the East Coast, in particular ACC programs.
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Will #Michigan make it three in a row over Ohio State? #GoBlue
Death, taxes, and Urban Meyer disrespecting Michigan football. Three things you can count on without question. However, in his appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on Wednesday, Meyer bucked the trend and shared that he has the utmost respect for Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh and the team he’s built.
That said, he’s expecting big things for the Wolverines in 2023.
“Well, I know his teams very well. And they’re tough,” Meyer said. “He grew up in a tough family, played for a tough coach. And you watch — the reason they beat Ohio State the last two years is they won a line of scrimmage. That game, for the history of that game, whoever wins the line of scrimmage wins.
“So you remember about three years ago, his job was on the line? I think they redid his contract. They were really struggling. And he’s done a great job. He’s got a really good football team. He’s got a quarterback coming back, one of the few teams with a returning quarterback.
“So when I think of a Jim Harbaugh team, I think you better line up and run the football and stop the run because that’s coming at you.”
In 2022, Meyer predicted that Penn State would stop the Wolverine run game while also noting that Ohio State would have a similar advantage. Neither worked out as the former Buckeye head coach envisioned.
Instead, Michigan pounded the Nittany Lions and OSU, the second-straight win over each for the maize and blue. The talk of the latter the past two seasons has been about how Ohio State has lost its edge. It’s too finesse, doesn’t have the physicality to match up with that Jim Harbaugh has built in Ann Arbor.
Meyer acknowledges there are problems in that regard with the Buckeyes, but he’s reticent to note that it will ultimately cause problems for his former team.
“It kind of happened to me at Florida,” Meyer said. “We started recruiting speed and I always made a comment we wanted to be the fastest team in America. And then you get good news and bad news; the good news: you have the most talented players in the country. Bad news: they got to touch the ball. So you have to get that ball in her hands.
“I’m not saying Ohio State’s less physical, but I’m saying you have a group and you are correct (that the team is less physical). Brian Hartline has recruited — and I did this a long time — I’ve never seen the level of the quarterbacks and receivers that are recruited to Ohio State right now. Everyone’s a first-round draft (pick), everyone’s a five-star, but you have to get the ball in their hands. And the good thing is they’re loaded a tailback this year, too. But I will not say that turns into a finesse game. But it turns into a game that you got to be creative, whether it be handed to them, throw it to them, throw screens to them, they have got to — your job as a head coach, just to get the best players the ball.”
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