Urban Meyer’s experience in college football has given him a sense of evaluating people within the sport. What Greg Byrne did for him in 2011 is one he still talks about.

Meyer shared the full story on The Triple Option podcast as shared on X on June 15. It was 2011. He had just stepped away from coaching after the Florida Gators. Byrne, then the athletic director at Arizona Wildcats, wanted him for the Wildcats' head coaching job after firing Mike Stoops mid-season. Meyer told him no, yet Byrne insisted on meeting him. However, the plan got cancelled since Meyer had to rush home.

"My father had cancer, was 86 years old, and my sisters called me as I was walking off the [golf] course and said, 'You got to get home, it doesn't look good,'" recalled Meyer. "I called Greg, and I said, 'I can't meet with you.' He said, 'Jump on the plane, I'll take you home, and then we'll do our interview on the plane.' That's how good a man the guy is."

Meyer got on. They flew to Cincinnati together. It was not a formal interview. Byrne just talked about Arizona, made his case, and spent two hours with Meyer on the plane. When they landed, he hugged Meyer and let him go be with his father.

Arizona did not get Meyer. Former West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Rich Rodriguez ended up with the job instead. But the gesture stayed with Meyer far longer than any recruitment pitch would have. He admitted it shifted something in him.

Meyer came back to coaching that same November when the Ohio State Buckeyes offered him the head coaching role. He went 83-9 with the Buckeyes and won a national championship in 2014. Byrne eventually left Arizona in 2017 for the Alabama Crimson Tide, where he has been ever since.

What Meyer Has Been Up to Since Leaving College Football Behind

After Ohio State, Meyer said he was done with coaching. That lasted about two years. He took the Jacksonville Jaguars head coaching job in 2021 and got fired before the season was even over.

He went back to Fox Sports after that and has been on Big Noon Kickoff every Saturday since. Even though he found success in broadcasting, he left his legacy in college football.

Meyer won three national championships coaching. Two while serving as Florida's head coach in 2006 and 2008. One at Ohio State in 2014.

He and his wife, Shelley, also started an Urban and Shelley Meyer Fund for Cancer Research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. After everything his father went through, that cause has always meant more to him than most people realize.

What do you think about Byrne's gesture toward Meyer? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Farheen Fathima

Edited by

Soheli Tarafdar