Join LeVar Arrington as he sits down with legendary coach Urban Meyer in this compelling episode of "Good in the Game." Dive into Urban's unparalleled coaching journey, his thoughts on NIL, and the importance of education in sports. Discover the stories behind his coaching philosophy, his legacy, and his candid insights on the evolving landscape of college football. Whether you're a fan of the game or curious about the man behind the titles, this episode offers a raw and unfiltered look at one of football's greats. Don't miss it!
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
What's up?
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Everybody's LeVar Arrington here. We got the great coach urban
Meyer coming on.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
With us today.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Man, he had some powerful things to say about nil.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
He has some things to say about how he.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Believes in his players and that where that ranks in
terms of making decisions on do you move on from them?
Do you keep trying with them? How many chances do
they get? We talked about his beginnings, we talked about
his shortcomings, We talked about so many different things. The
(00:43):
perspective of coach urban Meyer is unparalleled, and you're going
to get it wrong and uncut right now on good
in the game with LeVar Arrington, National Football Foundation. Here
we go and in three two one, let's run it
all right. A winning percentage of eighty five. That is
(01:07):
phenomenal in itself when you take into consideration there are
three national titles that are connected to that. What an
amazing coaching resume, all the way from well coaching where
he's from in Ohio, to making it down to the swamp,
(01:28):
to hitting well was in Utah, then hit the swamp,
then head back to the horseshoe. You won in so
many different places. Of course, if you're listening to what
I'm saying. You know, I'm talking about coach Urban Meyer,
one of the greatest to ever do it, and newly
inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame. First and
(01:52):
foremost congratulation on your induction. Obviously, probably we should say
long overdue for that honor and that distinction, but congratulations nonetheless,
and well you're on the National Football Foundation. Good in
the Game podcast, So appreciate you making some time for us.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Coach Lavari, I would like to see you and be
around you. You know, when I got the phone call,
it just all of a sudden, you just shift into
reflection mode. And I was a guy that you know,
a lot of kids when you're young, you know, what
are you going to be. I'm gonna be a teacher.
I'm gonna be a doctor. I'm be a lawyer. I'm
gonna I just knew I wanted to play the game
(02:33):
as long as I could, and then I wanted to coach.
I just and then it was only reinforced through my
career that I had the greatest high school coach i'd been.
I think over nine hundred high schools in my career
just visiting, and there are some great ones out there.
But I look back at my high school coaching and baseball,
basketball and football, and it's reason I coached. And then
I went to Ohio State, Whatody Hayes was still alive,
(02:55):
and Earl Bruce became a mentor, and then Lou Holtz,
and I'm a blessed guy man, and I've been surrounded
by the best. And then you look back now and
shoot some A lot of my players are still playing
in the NFL and some best players in the NFL,
and then coaches went on to be head coaches. So
I'm a fortunate guy man.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
And you left the legacy a lasting legacy. Obviously, your
successor is playing in the National Championship game. He has
had Ryan Day, of course, has had some tremendous success,
and I think a lot of that would have to
do with the infrastructure and the standard that was created
by yourself when you were there.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Give me a feel.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
On how you're looking at this National title game between
Ohio State and Notre Dame.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
I think the legacy piece is so important in the
succession plan, and Bob's Ooops is the first one to
do it. And Bob coach Oops is a dear friend
of mine. And I remember when he named Lincoln Riley
because I had a target of fifty five years old.
You know, I I didn't want to do this forever,
you know, I just sew one of those people that
I'm a maniac. I never took a day off, and
(04:06):
it was first thing until you wake up, until you
go to bed, and thinking of ways to win games
and making sure players are successful. And you know, I'm
not like a lot of guys. I didn't want to
do this forever, you know, I wanted to go live
my life. So I hired Ryan Day. He was a
guy that is an elite and everything he did, first
of all acube football acumen is off the chart, but
(04:26):
just understanding people. Ohio State's a complicated place, as is
Penn State. Very political, very complicated, gigantic spot. And when
I came across, I went to Jean Smith and the
president and I said, we got our next coach here,
and they knew I was there's you know, I told
him I was honest with him that I was going
to be you know, only two years left, one year
(04:47):
left and then and then move on. I see this game,
LeVar Is, It's great for football. I love notre Dame.
I spent five or six years there as assistant coach
under Lou Holtz and Bob Baby. I got emotional when
I saw well those players because Notre Dame is a
very hard, unique spot. It's great spot. It's football paradise.
You know, there's seventy five hundred students. Seventy five hundred
(05:09):
students go to every game. You know, it's a I'm
a big academic guy. I grew up in that kind
of environment with my parents and my sisters, and academics
are a premium there. There's you know, the whole online
class stuff there. I never heard of that Notre Dame.
I don't imagine that's there. It's you go to class,
you work and get you great and football players don't
get treated different. And it's also when I did my
(05:33):
podcast The Triple Option the other day, I looked at
my phone. It was minus five wind show in South End,
oh So there's only a few people that you can
go recruit and to see them stand up after beating
Georgia and get interviewed. And now they're playing in Ohio State.
So it's going to be a great game. I think
it's gonna be a close game. For a while, but
I think is just so talented LeVar that and and
(05:54):
Irish are dealing with some injuries. Love has banged up
the defense, got some injuries. I think they'll they'll they'll
win that game in the second half.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
I mean, that's I think that's great. Great analysis. Obviously
wouldn't be any better analysis from anyone else, knowing your
intimate connection to both programs, And you mentioned education, so
obviously I do this this podcast for the National Football
Foundation Good in the Game because I like to bring
(06:25):
out the stories and talk about the things surrounding football
that are good in the game, just because so many
times we hear so many horror stories, so many things
that fall in the negative realm of how things are discussed,
and we wanted to do something that was positive and
(06:46):
was uplifting towards anyone within the football community or people
who pay attention to goes on what goes on in
the football community. You mentioned education being a major part.
Now you you went to school for psychology, so you're
into the mental makeup of people and how they operate.
(07:07):
I actually took that as a major in school as well,
and did sociology as well. Also wanted to do rehab education.
That was something that was big in my family. My
mother did special ad education, and I wanted to kind
of follow on her footsteps, but to be a counselor
of sorts. So I wanted to understand how people work.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
You did it?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
What was your purpose for taking up psychology, because that's
not an easy major to have, That's not an easy
discipline to have. And you know, how did that play
a part in terms of good of the game. How
did academics play apart in your achievements and your accomplishments
within the game of football.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Well, if I was in charge of the Department of education,
I'd mandate psychology, I'd mandate fiscal responsibility, I'd mandate leadership
and communication. I think that there's no chance on what
you get through high school college without taking several courses
in those fields. That's real life. Because psychology, to me,
is a human behavior, human performance. How does this body
(08:12):
and mind work together and how do they adjust in
adapt environments? And I tell people I was in a
thirty eight year laboratory man. And because every person is different,
every player is different, every coach is different, every fan
base is different, and at the end of the day
coach is responsible, couch parent teacher. You know, how do
you get people to do the hard? You know, getting
(08:34):
people to do the easy is easy. I mean it's easy.
How do you get because we all know life is really,
really hard. And when I was in college, I tried everything.
I started off in broadcasting, I started off, and I
tried to be an architect, and you know, just with
the schedules in playing football and college, you weren't able
(08:54):
to do it. And then I came across psychology and
I used it every day of my career and I've
read books on it, I've studied it to this day.
I still I'm so intrigued. That's why I love our
men and women in the military too. I'm on two
foundation boards of the military because you talk about the
ultimate sacrifice and selflessness and how do you get people
(09:16):
to do the unthinkable. The psychology of the men and
women the soldiers is unbelievable when you really research it
in the leadership that's provided to those men and women
that serve our country. So I'm glad you asked that question.
I can see that in you. The psychology piece now
that I'm gonna I mean, you can have some good
conversations now brother about the psychology of player and the
(09:43):
father and good friends. So I'm glad you asked.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
So the educational component of all those things you mentioned,
the leadership aspects of it, the qualities of it, understanding
the different you know, the different players, the different fan bases,
all those things that you're discussing. You've been able to
(10:09):
navigate in a way where, for one, what's interesting about
you is you've done it your way, and doing it
your way sometimes that brings maybe people that are detractors,
and it's never seemed to be anything that has ever,
(10:30):
you know, deterred you from being who Coach urban Meyer is.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
And I always thought that I found it to.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Be very, very intriguing while covering you because people, you know,
there was a time where it's like man like I
don't know, Like you had guys like Coach Belichick and
how he is. You had guys like Coach Shaban and
how he is, and then there's Coach Urban and how
he is. And you guys have very distinct traits and
(11:00):
how you handle things, and everybody is in fans of
how you guys handle things. But I would assume your
background in psychology and your education being connected to how
you approach things played a major part, and how you
internalized or how you kept the noise out and was
able to communicate concisely what your what your message was,
(11:23):
and what your core principles and values were to each
and one, each one of your coaching stats, to each
one of your players, and ultimately to the communities that
you were coaching in as well.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Yeah, I always approached that I work for the players.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
You know, it's a three to four year window from
a guy and the way I was coached and the
way I was brought up that you know, I we
operated the you.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
Know love, you know, and love is not soft. Love
is actually really hard. You know.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I just raised three children and now we got six grandchildren,
and you know, studying standards and demanding your family lives
up to those standards, that's.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
Really difficult at times. And I could care less.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
And to this day, I still what some guy says
behind a microphone, I look at first. I sometimes I
hear it and I'll look and I'll say, that guy,
who's this guy to talking here? And he's never played
it down, He's never been in a huddle, he's never
but they you know they're the shock jocks.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
They're going to say, so I never really let it,
you know.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
I remember at Florida one of the concerns people had
about me is I had some players, and for a
lot of reasons, it was I don't want to get
into the reasons why the players will tell you, but
we have some guys get do some stupid things and.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
We handled it.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
And I would give guys second and third chances, and
here I am sixty years old, I'd give them a
hundred chances.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
I'm not getting I don't get rid of people. I don't.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
I did that a couple of times. It didn't turn
out well for that player, just like I'm not going
to get rid of my son. So when someone has
a problem with that, I'm okay. I mean I don't.
I don't work for you. I don't could care. I
don't care. I would put my players over the press
and in the ad. You know, if it had to
make a decision, and I had to a couple of
times make a decision between a player and what my
(13:07):
boss says, I'm going with the player because that player
is more important to me than you know. I recruited
that player, and so I it's funny that you hear
saving and you know Coach Belichick as well, and you know,
I guess you're very comfortable in your skin and.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
It is what it is.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
You know, we have an excellent track record of putting
guys in life after a sport, and that means jobs introduced,
preparational like your former coach did, who was a dear
friend of mine.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
But I think I think we're coming back.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Societies will come in a little bit back now that
who cares what people? You got to be you, and
it came about you. It's got to be about your players,
the people you serve. I do not serve anyone behind
a microphone.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
I don't do that.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
I serve my family and I serve my players. And
if someone has a problem, I'm first of all, I
don't I'm not a not on social media. I almost
said a bad word. I could care less. Hey, I
care about educating, you know what. I'm a big believer
and I hope this is a good thing for NFF.
Two is that I'm hoping with this new era of football,
which is great, a lot of there's a lot of
(14:15):
things are great. I just don't want to lose that
education piece, because I've done this a long time, LeVar,
and you want to solve all problems, get a really
good education, get some experience.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
You're good.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
You know, even when you have a knee surgery and
you can't play football anymore, you're good.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
And I hope that doesn't go away.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
I love that, man, I love that message.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
And I was going to ask you, what is your
involvement with the National Football Foundation. It kind of seems
like you touched on it, but if you want to
expand on it anymore, I know the Campbell Trophy, that
award is an amazing and unique award in the sense
that it rewards a baller, but it's a baller in
the classroom as well as on the field. And again,
(14:59):
just hearing your you know, your connection and understanding of
what education has represented for you and the players that
you have served. You know, if you want to expand
on a little bit more that that you're more to
welcome to. How does it feel in terms of getting
into the hollow ground and the walls of the College
(15:20):
Football Hall of Fame? What does that mean to you?
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Well, like I said, I'm a historian. I could go
back and since I was, you know, I probably eight
nine years old. I knew my career. I knew exactly
what I wanted to do. I wanted to play as
long as possible and then get into coaching. And I
just love that bony. So I'd been to the Hall
of Fame that used to be in South Bend when
I was coaching there and we'd go there for recruiting trips.
(15:44):
I'd go down by myself. Sometimes I'd go down and
just because you know, whether it be Joe Materno, Bobby
ballin bow, Shan Beck with W Hayes, Tom Osborn, all
the guys I grew up idolizing and then great names.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
Getting great friends with all of them.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
And then now that I'm going to be in Atlanta
at the Hall of Fame, I mean, it's it's beyond humbling.
And I just I always looked at reflecting as a
sign of weakness because you didn't have time looking backwards
when you're coaching, you didn't have time. Now I retired
with no desire to go back and just doing TV
and really enjoying my family. In life, is that I
(16:21):
can reflect and say, Mike gosh, it I have some
good players, Mike Gosh that I have some great assistant
coaches and went on to be head coaches, and so
I'm just very fortunate.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
Would you do it again?
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Would you go back into college?
Speaker 4 (16:36):
No? No? No? Yeah? You no, I'm good. Good. I
like we were good? Yeah, i'd like you we good?
Speaker 1 (16:46):
All right?
Speaker 2 (16:47):
All right, you said, because you're one of the greats,
you still got something you coach.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
That's why I just say that, you know.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Maybe you'll change your mind at some point, because there
are some guys out there that neet that second third
and one hundred chants. And with that being said, I'd
like to segue that into the idea and the question
of you're good, but there are.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Coaches that are still coaching.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
What does it take to be a successful coach in
today's game?
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Because there are so many different moving parts?
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Now, what would your advice be to a young coach
or a coach that's in the game right now, especially
at the college level.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Yeah, I'm still dear friends with a lot of them,
and I'm almost like a counselor to some you know,
where I'm a sounding board and a lot of times
this is not this is crazy, and then there's so
much good to it, and let's send the hotspots. The
hotspots are the name and likeness, which I've always been
a proponent. You know, this is the United States of America.
If someone can make money, legitimate money out their name
(17:48):
and likeness, that's the foundation of our country. It's called capitalism. Sure,
I was dead Sentigran. So if you if you're a
great swimmer and you want to utilize your followers and
make apps, absolutely, I mean that's for the NCAA.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
That was wrong.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
But then what happened was it became't paid for playing.
I'm not a fan of that. You know, when boosters
throwing millions and millions of dollars and you pay a
seventeen year old through his agent, you know, whatever it is,
I know I'm not a fan of that at all.
So I nameing likeness is good. I think there needs
to be some guardrails, which I don't know what they
are right now. I don't think anyone does. The second
(18:25):
one is the transfer portal. I think for the graduate
student it was excellent. I little alarming now that you
see kids transferring four and five times, and that just
tells me academics are not important and someday that player
is not going to be able to run a four
to four anymore, and he's going to have to provide
for three children.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
And there's only one way to do that. It's called
a job. Job, So I gotta show up.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Yeah, I think the number one thing you can see
is kind of a young man's game. Now. The coaching
staffs are getting younger and younger, which I agree with.
When I was, you know, the old krusty dude is,
you know it should be doing a podcast, which is
what I'm doing.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
I don't know that I buy that.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
I still think that there's a place for the wisdom
and the leadership that guys like urban Meyer bring to
the table.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
It didn't almost happen.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Urban Meyer almost didn't happen because he was a baseball player.
He was a pretty good baseball player, ended up getting drafted.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
What was what?
Speaker 3 (19:29):
What? Like?
Speaker 1 (19:30):
What went into that?
Speaker 4 (19:31):
Like?
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Give us some context because people may not know that
that you were a dope baseball player and it could
have easily ended up you being a skipper versus being
a coach.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
What what helped you make the decision from one to
the other.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
I was drafted as a junior as a as a
seventeen year old senior in high school, and uh, I
was a better baseball player than football player. But my
passion has always been the game of football. So I
went and played professional baseball, had an injury, was cut
after my second year by a guy named Hank Aaron
cut me. I still got his autograph.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
He got an autograph. You remembered him.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Yeah, I got his autograph and said you're unconditionally released.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Yeah, when he cut me. And then.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
But then I went on to become a graduate student
Ohio State, and that was my first taste of big
time college football. And I got a big break when
I went from I went to Illinois State and then
I went to Colorado State with coach o'bruce took me
from the guy that got fired at Ohio State, and
that was my career.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
And I kind of, like I said LeVar, I was
lucky man.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
I knew at a young age I wanted to coach
this great game.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Did you have a checklist of people like because just
getting to know you through the years, I feel like coach.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Urban Meyer had a checklist the people that like I know.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
There's a fun story about you calling coach Saban for
a job and he never got back to you.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Did you have a checklist of guys?
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Check him off the list, check that program off the list,
check him off you know. I called it a kill list.
You know I'm a defensive guy. I called a kill list.
I had people I was checking them off my list.
I wanted to get an Emitt Smith. I wanted to
get Jerome Bettist. I wanted to get Fred Taylor. I
had a real kill list. Quarterbacks, not so much, but
(21:22):
running backs. I had a list of running backs that
I wanted to check off the list and put them
on my kill Did you have a did you have
a checklist? I will call a checklist for you. I
will call it a kill shee. Did you have a
checklist of people who maybe you you know, they didn't
treat you the right way, or maybe you didn't feel
(21:43):
like they believed in you, or you didn't get an opportunity.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
I know you had one. You gotta have one. How
was that? How do you have any more checks left?
Or did you check them all off?
Speaker 4 (21:55):
No?
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Everyone has a checklist. You know, we're warriors. God created
man to be warrior, you know, And what's a warrior doing?
I've actually spoken corporate America a bunch of places. And
I always tell them that one of the things you're
missing is who's your enemy? Who?
Speaker 4 (22:10):
Who?
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Who's I mean, that's not that's the way when you
wake up every morning, what's your target? If you answer
the question, I don't have one, then you're probably not
grinding real hard. You know, in Ohio State we had
a very clear targets. The team up north, you know,
the wol Greens. That was our target. In every waking
moment you spend on trying to defeat that enemy. And
I whether you're a Navy seal, an Army ranger, a
(22:33):
Green Beret, or a football coach, or a middle or
an outside linebacker at Penn State, you need to have
a target. So of course I did. And I don't
know if I actually had a checklist, But you know
you don't.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Have a checklist. Coach, you had a checklist? Coach you did?
I know you did. There were names, they were names.
You had names, coach, Sure, yeah you did.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
I'm not going to share them with but short.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
No, no, I don't want to to serum. I watch
it cerrum. I do not watch it at cerial. But
I just I like the fact that you were willing
to conferm it. You had your names, There had to
be names, and it had to feel really good. How
did it feel when you check them off? Like when
you check like there's a check. How did that feel?
Speaker 3 (23:18):
It was kind of overwhelmed by the guys I wasn't
able to check off because there's a few on that
list that I just couldn't get. No, that was the
ones that keep you awake at night, you know, uh,
the one, not the ones you check off the list.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
Great question, though, all.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Right, I'm not gonna hold you up much longer.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
Listen.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
There have been so many things that we can pinpoint
as positives and just amazing things that have had been
a part of your career. And you mentioned just how
much you loved your guys and how that played a
major part in the decisions that you made, and just
how much coaching meant to you talked about the idea
(23:59):
of the game getting younger for coaches now and innil
what would your advice be to the players, like just
to close out, because good in the game to me,
as it represents to the players is the understanding that
being the best you.
Speaker 4 (24:18):
I always say.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
For some reason, sometimes it gets confused the message of
being a great teammate and being a great player gets confused.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
The thing.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
You gotta find a healthy balance between being selfish and
being selfless. I told somebody the other day, I said, listen,
if you can't build yourself to being the best self,
then you don't have enough self to be self less.
You have no self to give the others to be
self less. What would your message be to players today?
(24:48):
Because that nil and name, image and all the stuff.
The agents coming out of the woodwork, and now they
can get you while you're even in youth football, not
just college. They can get you while you're in you
high school. There's a lot of moving parts now that
are added. What would your message be to today's athlete,
to today's football players.
Speaker 4 (25:09):
It's been the same since day one.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
I stand in front of a team and that is
what's your five year, ten year plan and fifteen year plan?
And the answer is yes, if we can help get
you there. You know, this is not immediate gratification. This
is you can't start tomorrow. That's not the way this
thing works. Maybe you can't. I mean, you know, God,
Perscy Harvin didn't have to sit the bench very long.
There's a lot of guys that you have to you know,
it's a it's a method, it's a process, and keep
(25:33):
investing in yourself. And I would be so guarded right
now with all these agents. And are there good agents?
There's great agents, are there bad agents? There's awful ones
that are so invest in yourself. What the number one
investment to me is prepper is in academics? Is you know,
making sure that you can go function outside the framework
(25:55):
of a school. Well hostake gives that player everything. There's
nothing that player has to do other than work hard.
You know, the money, the dorm, the apartment, the food,
the all you know, you know what it is. It's
a thousand times better than when you playing.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
So what is that?
Speaker 3 (26:12):
If that was my son? What are you doing to
invest in yourself? Tell me about your internship. I don't
give a damn about if you're running the curl right
at fourteen or twelve, that's not important to me. Tell
me about the internship on your career choice once this
is done, because at some point now this is going
to be done and I don't want to look at it.
(26:32):
And I've had its horror horror stories to me to
this day, I still have players whether they're asking me
for money or they're saying what do I do?
Speaker 4 (26:40):
I'm like, what do you do? We talked about this.
So that's my.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Biggest thing is the life after football component is the
ultimate responsibility of a coach, a teacher, a parent, not
not getting that square in at sixteen yards, yeah, but
making sure that young man has a suit, a jack
and a tie and he can walk into a boardroom
and say this is the reason you need to hire
me if you do that job out all right?
Speaker 4 (27:05):
I lad I got one more coach.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Dion Standers is getting looked at for this this Cowboys job,
but he's done such an exceptional job at Colorado. If
you were giving coach Prime advice and maybe you have,
what would you tell him to do?
Speaker 1 (27:22):
What do you think he should do?
Speaker 4 (27:24):
You know, Dion has been a friend for a long time. Man.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
We actually called me one time asking for advice about stuff,
and I went out to at Fox. We had him
for three games and so I called him. I said,
can I come visit practice? Because what is this Deon Sanders?
You know the golden necklaces, the you know, the whole
coach Prime sweatshirts he wearers and the sunglasses and the
hoodie and all that, and you know what I want.
I called all my boys at Big New and I said, boys,
(27:48):
this is legit. This is before the prime phenomena really happened.
I watched their practice. He you talk about a tough dude,
Now he don't play. He does not play that. I
saw two kids not hustling off the field one time,
and he interrupted our conversation.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
I'll be right back.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
He done cuss, but he went wild about discipline, about
doing things the right way. So I get uncomfortable sometimes.
I see the way he does it with all the
you know, the chador and the watches and all that,
and I think it's great TV.
Speaker 4 (28:22):
But then when you go dig in.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
I'm telling you there is a real substance.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
LeVar. Look at look like, what kind of father that
guy is?
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (28:31):
Th kid? Those kids are awesome as they are.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
I mean, that's all you gotta do is look at
your child and to say, is a good day. Absolutely,
And then you go really study him and watch him
speak to his team like I did, and go in
the player meetings and the coaches meetings.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
I walked away and I said, this is legit. Man.
When he's done in Colorado's phenomenal.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
You know, he the NFL thing didn't Obviously I didn't
do well, but he if he decides to, I know
he'll do well.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
You think you will, I do.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
I think it's the league is different, and you said
you didn't do well, but the league is very It's
I mean, who's doing well at Jacksonville? I mean, I'm
just let's just be let's call a spade a spade.
Culture is culture? Do you feel like it's harder to
create the culture in which you want to create at
that level versus in college Because to me, I felt
(29:18):
like I had a great, amazing college career as a player,
but I'm left to deal with the culture that I'm
drafted to and I didn't get drafted to a good
cultural situation.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
And we didn't win.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
You know, so that's got to be just as hard,
if not harder, for a coach to be able to
try to navigate those waters. And that's why I was
wondering from your perspective, if you're Dion, do you take
on that challenge because you can be an urban Myra
or a Deon Sanders, But if that ownership, if their
culture is not that of a healthy culture that's conducive
(29:54):
to success in that locker room and in that building.
I don't care if it's Jesus himself that came from
Nazareth to come coach that team, it's not going to work.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
Yeah, that's a great something day. I'll write a book
about it. I did.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
I made some mistakes at Jacksonville, and but I also
I walked in and it was the culture is awful.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
I mean it was terrible. It was they.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
Weren't it was I would say in inner city bad.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
High school is how bad the facilities were? Dang?
Speaker 3 (30:25):
You know there were bugs, there were rodents, there was
you know, it was I remember going, wait, wait what
I never saw before I took a job and I
was like, Mike, wait a minute, what are we doing?
And I was the guy just pushing, pushing. And they
built a new facility. Now there's they had. They had
to do that. But how do you treat if you're
going to grind people and push people, how do you
not give them the very best of the best. You know,
(30:46):
our practices were very hard. We were Navy seals. We
were gonna at the end of the day. I wanted
them to sit down at the bench and go, wow,
we just we just banked a good day. But they
also knew they're getting ready to go to the best
food in the United States of America. They had the
best training staff and in the United States of America,
they also prehab rehab whatever they want. I would always
tell them the answers, yes, just tell me what you need,
(31:10):
and the answers, yes, you don't have to go pay
for yourself. We had guys going to pay for their own,
you know, massages in their own I'm like, wait, what
this is the what are we doing?
Speaker 4 (31:20):
Right?
Speaker 3 (31:20):
So, you know, and I have a probably a little
more forceful way of going after things. And it pissed
off a lot of people. And but that's okay. I'm
I'm very comfortable now and move on. And but you're right,
it's I would say NFL is much. But I think
the Cowboys are a team of excellence. I know they've
had their I would imagine the Cowboys have the best
(31:42):
of the very best. You know, I came from Ohio State.
If you walk in the infrastructural house state, I'm biased,
there's no better. You can't walk into Ohio State and say, man,
I wish your your trainers did a little better job
because I'd look at you.
Speaker 4 (31:55):
That's not true. The Olympics don't have better trainers than
we have.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
We're the first team to have our own physical therapist,
own sports psychologists, own nutritionists.
Speaker 4 (32:04):
We have all that way before all this, and so
our players.
Speaker 3 (32:07):
If you're supposed to be one hundred and eighty six
pounds bench in three point fifty, then you're going to
be four.
Speaker 4 (32:13):
You're going to be doing to be Yeah, that's deep. Coach.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
Hey, listen, I appreciate your time. Everyone that's Coach urban Meyer.
Give it up for coach. Appreciate you coming on, making
some time. And this is why I do this show.
This is what's good in the game. To be able
to have the opportunity to hear the wisdom from someone
like you and to just be able to listen to
(32:42):
your experiences and what works and what makes it make sense.
Very honored, very humble, coach. I appreciate your time, and yeah,
keep it going. You do a great job. A big
fan of you on the big New Keep doing your thing.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
Appreciate you, Love you, brother.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Okay, okay, coach, all right, that was Coach urban Meyer.
You heard it here.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
Man He has some real, real strong things to talk about.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
What's good in the game.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
Psychology, how does that play apart his major in college?
How did that play a part? And how he handled
his business as a coach. We talked about kill lit well,
I had to kill list, checklist, he said, warriors have checklist.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
You got that right.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
So many things that coach urban Meyer had to talk about.
Really really enjoyed it, and listen. We have those interviews
coming and coming and coming again. Make sure you're staying
locked in and tuned in to Good in the Game podcast.
Make sure you rate, subscribe, tell a friend about it,
all right, contribute listen because we are making sure we
(33:53):
bring to you the stories that matter the most from
the National Football Foundation's perspective of what's good in the game.
I'm LeVar Arrington. This has been an excellent episode. Appreciate
you guys tuning in. Until next time, we'll talk to you.
What's up?
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Everybody's LeVar Arrington here. We got the great coach urban
Meyer coming on.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
With us today.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Man, he had some powerful things to say about nil.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
He has some things to say about how he.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Believes in his players and that where that ranks in
terms of making decisions on do you move on from them?
Do you keep trying with them? How many chances do
they get? We talked about his beginnings, we talked about
his shortcomings, We talked about so many different things. The
(00:43):
perspective of coach urban Meyer is unparalleled, and you're going
to get it wrong and uncut right now on good
in the game with LeVar Arrington, National Football Foundation. Here
we go and in three two one, let's run it
all right. A winning percentage of eighty five. That is
(01:07):
phenomenal in itself when you take into consideration there are
three national titles that are connected to that. What an
amazing coaching resume, all the way from well coaching where
he's from in Ohio, to making it down to the swamp,
(01:28):
to hitting well was in Utah, then hit the swamp,
then head back to the horseshoe. You won in so
many different places. Of course, if you're listening to what
I'm saying. You know, I'm talking about coach Urban Meyer,
one of the greatest to ever do it, and newly
inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame. First and
(01:52):
foremost congratulation on your induction. Obviously, probably we should say
long overdue for that honor and that distinction, but congratulations nonetheless,
and well you're on the National Football Foundation. Good in
the Game podcast, So appreciate you making some time for us.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Coach Lavari, I would like to see you and be
around you. You know, when I got the phone call,
it just all of a sudden, you just shift into
reflection mode. And I was a guy that you know,
a lot of kids when you're young, you know, what
are you going to be. I'm gonna be a teacher.
I'm gonna be a doctor. I'm be a lawyer. I'm
gonna I just knew I wanted to play the game
(02:33):
as long as I could, and then I wanted to coach.
I just and then it was only reinforced through my
career that I had the greatest high school coach i'd been.
I think over nine hundred high schools in my career
just visiting, and there are some great ones out there.
But I look back at my high school coaching and baseball,
basketball and football, and it's reason I coached. And then
I went to Ohio State, Whatody Hayes was still alive,
(02:55):
and Earl Bruce became a mentor, and then Lou Holtz,
and I'm a blessed guy man, and I've been surrounded
by the best. And then you look back now and
shoot some A lot of my players are still playing
in the NFL and some best players in the NFL,
and then coaches went on to be head coaches. So
I'm a fortunate guy man.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
And you left the legacy a lasting legacy. Obviously, your
successor is playing in the National Championship game. He has
had Ryan Day, of course, has had some tremendous success,
and I think a lot of that would have to
do with the infrastructure and the standard that was created
by yourself when you were there.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Give me a feel.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
On how you're looking at this National title game between
Ohio State and Notre Dame.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
I think the legacy piece is so important in the
succession plan, and Bob's Ooops is the first one to
do it. And Bob coach Oops is a dear friend
of mine. And I remember when he named Lincoln Riley
because I had a target of fifty five years old.
You know, I I didn't want to do this forever,
you know, I just sew one of those people that
I'm a maniac. I never took a day off, and
(04:06):
it was first thing until you wake up, until you
go to bed, and thinking of ways to win games
and making sure players are successful. And you know, I'm
not like a lot of guys. I didn't want to
do this forever, you know, I wanted to go live
my life. So I hired Ryan Day. He was a
guy that is an elite and everything he did, first
of all acube football acumen is off the chart, but
(04:26):
just understanding people. Ohio State's a complicated place, as is
Penn State. Very political, very complicated, gigantic spot. And when
I came across, I went to Jean Smith and the
president and I said, we got our next coach here,
and they knew I was there's you know, I told
him I was honest with him that I was going
to be you know, only two years left, one year
(04:47):
left and then and then move on. I see this game,
LeVar Is, It's great for football. I love notre Dame.
I spent five or six years there as assistant coach
under Lou Holtz and Bob Baby. I got emotional when
I saw well those players because Notre Dame is a
very hard, unique spot. It's great spot. It's football paradise.
You know, there's seventy five hundred students. Seventy five hundred
(05:09):
students go to every game. You know, it's a I'm
a big academic guy. I grew up in that kind
of environment with my parents and my sisters, and academics
are a premium there. There's you know, the whole online
class stuff there. I never heard of that Notre Dame.
I don't imagine that's there. It's you go to class,
you work and get you great and football players don't
get treated different. And it's also when I did my
(05:33):
podcast The Triple Option the other day, I looked at
my phone. It was minus five wind show in South End,
oh So there's only a few people that you can
go recruit and to see them stand up after beating
Georgia and get interviewed. And now they're playing in Ohio State.
So it's going to be a great game. I think
it's gonna be a close game. For a while, but
I think is just so talented LeVar that and and
(05:54):
Irish are dealing with some injuries. Love has banged up
the defense, got some injuries. I think they'll they'll they'll
win that game in the second half.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
I mean, that's I think that's great. Great analysis. Obviously
wouldn't be any better analysis from anyone else, knowing your
intimate connection to both programs, And you mentioned education, so
obviously I do this this podcast for the National Football
Foundation Good in the Game because I like to bring
(06:25):
out the stories and talk about the things surrounding football
that are good in the game, just because so many
times we hear so many horror stories, so many things
that fall in the negative realm of how things are discussed,
and we wanted to do something that was positive and
(06:46):
was uplifting towards anyone within the football community or people
who pay attention to goes on what goes on in
the football community. You mentioned education being a major part.
Now you you went to school for psychology, so you're
into the mental makeup of people and how they operate.
(07:07):
I actually took that as a major in school as well,
and did sociology as well. Also wanted to do rehab education.
That was something that was big in my family. My
mother did special ad education, and I wanted to kind
of follow on her footsteps, but to be a counselor
of sorts. So I wanted to understand how people work.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
You did it?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
What was your purpose for taking up psychology, because that's
not an easy major to have, That's not an easy
discipline to have. And you know, how did that play
a part in terms of good of the game. How
did academics play apart in your achievements and your accomplishments
within the game of football.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Well, if I was in charge of the Department of education,
I'd mandate psychology, I'd mandate fiscal responsibility, I'd mandate leadership
and communication. I think that there's no chance on what
you get through high school college without taking several courses
in those fields. That's real life. Because psychology, to me,
is a human behavior, human performance. How does this body
(08:12):
and mind work together and how do they adjust in
adapt environments? And I tell people I was in a
thirty eight year laboratory man. And because every person is different,
every player is different, every coach is different, every fan
base is different, and at the end of the day
coach is responsible, couch parent teacher. You know, how do
you get people to do the hard? You know, getting
(08:34):
people to do the easy is easy. I mean it's easy.
How do you get because we all know life is really,
really hard. And when I was in college, I tried everything.
I started off in broadcasting, I started off, and I
tried to be an architect, and you know, just with
the schedules in playing football and college, you weren't able
(08:54):
to do it. And then I came across psychology and
I used it every day of my career and I've
read books on it, I've studied it to this day.
I still I'm so intrigued. That's why I love our
men and women in the military too. I'm on two
foundation boards of the military because you talk about the
ultimate sacrifice and selflessness and how do you get people
(09:16):
to do the unthinkable. The psychology of the men and
women the soldiers is unbelievable when you really research it
in the leadership that's provided to those men and women
that serve our country. So I'm glad you asked that question.
I can see that in you. The psychology piece now
that I'm gonna I mean, you can have some good
conversations now brother about the psychology of player and the
(09:43):
father and good friends. So I'm glad you asked.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
So the educational component of all those things you mentioned,
the leadership aspects of it, the qualities of it, understanding
the different you know, the different players, the different fan bases,
all those things that you're discussing. You've been able to
(10:09):
navigate in a way where, for one, what's interesting about
you is you've done it your way, and doing it
your way sometimes that brings maybe people that are detractors,
and it's never seemed to be anything that has ever,
(10:30):
you know, deterred you from being who Coach urban Meyer is.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
And I always thought that I found it to.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Be very, very intriguing while covering you because people, you know,
there was a time where it's like man like I
don't know, Like you had guys like Coach Belichick and
how he is. You had guys like Coach Shaban and
how he is, and then there's Coach Urban and how
he is. And you guys have very distinct traits and
(11:00):
how you handle things, and everybody is in fans of
how you guys handle things. But I would assume your
background in psychology and your education being connected to how
you approach things played a major part, and how you
internalized or how you kept the noise out and was
able to communicate concisely what your what your message was,
(11:23):
and what your core principles and values were to each
and one, each one of your coaching stats, to each
one of your players, and ultimately to the communities that
you were coaching in as well.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Yeah, I always approached that I work for the players.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
You know, it's a three to four year window from
a guy and the way I was coached and the
way I was brought up that you know, I we
operated the you.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
Know love, you know, and love is not soft. Love
is actually really hard. You know.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I just raised three children and now we got six grandchildren,
and you know, studying standards and demanding your family lives
up to those standards, that's.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
Really difficult at times. And I could care less.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
And to this day, I still what some guy says
behind a microphone, I look at first. I sometimes I
hear it and I'll look and I'll say, that guy,
who's this guy to talking here? And he's never played
it down, He's never been in a huddle, he's never
but they you know they're the shock jocks.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
They're going to say, so I never really let it,
you know.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
I remember at Florida one of the concerns people had
about me is I had some players, and for a
lot of reasons, it was I don't want to get
into the reasons why the players will tell you, but
we have some guys get do some stupid things and.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
We handled it.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
And I would give guys second and third chances, and
here I am sixty years old, I'd give them a
hundred chances.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
I'm not getting I don't get rid of people. I don't.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
I did that a couple of times. It didn't turn
out well for that player, just like I'm not going
to get rid of my son. So when someone has
a problem with that, I'm okay. I mean I don't.
I don't work for you. I don't could care. I
don't care. I would put my players over the press
and in the ad. You know, if it had to
make a decision, and I had to a couple of
times make a decision between a player and what my
(13:07):
boss says, I'm going with the player because that player
is more important to me than you know. I recruited
that player, and so I it's funny that you hear
saving and you know Coach Belichick as well, and you know,
I guess you're very comfortable in your skin and.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
It is what it is.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
You know, we have an excellent track record of putting
guys in life after a sport, and that means jobs introduced,
preparational like your former coach did, who was a dear
friend of mine.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
But I think I think we're coming back.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Societies will come in a little bit back now that
who cares what people? You got to be you, and
it came about you. It's got to be about your players,
the people you serve. I do not serve anyone behind
a microphone.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
I don't do that.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
I serve my family and I serve my players. And
if someone has a problem, I'm first of all, I
don't I'm not a not on social media. I almost
said a bad word. I could care less. Hey, I
care about educating, you know what. I'm a big believer
and I hope this is a good thing for NFF.
Two is that I'm hoping with this new era of football,
which is great, a lot of there's a lot of
(14:15):
things are great. I just don't want to lose that
education piece, because I've done this a long time, LeVar,
and you want to solve all problems, get a really
good education, get some experience.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
You're good.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
You know, even when you have a knee surgery and
you can't play football anymore, you're good.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
And I hope that doesn't go away.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
I love that, man, I love that message.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
And I was going to ask you, what is your
involvement with the National Football Foundation. It kind of seems
like you touched on it, but if you want to
expand on it anymore, I know the Campbell Trophy, that
award is an amazing and unique award in the sense
that it rewards a baller, but it's a baller in
the classroom as well as on the field. And again,
(14:59):
just hearing your you know, your connection and understanding of
what education has represented for you and the players that
you have served. You know, if you want to expand
on a little bit more that that you're more to
welcome to. How does it feel in terms of getting
into the hollow ground and the walls of the College
(15:20):
Football Hall of Fame? What does that mean to you?
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Well, like I said, I'm a historian. I could go
back and since I was, you know, I probably eight
nine years old. I knew my career. I knew exactly
what I wanted to do. I wanted to play as
long as possible and then get into coaching. And I
just love that bony. So I'd been to the Hall
of Fame that used to be in South Bend when
I was coaching there and we'd go there for recruiting trips.
(15:44):
I'd go down by myself. Sometimes I'd go down and
just because you know, whether it be Joe Materno, Bobby
ballin bow, Shan Beck with W Hayes, Tom Osborn, all
the guys I grew up idolizing and then great names.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
Getting great friends with all of them.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
And then now that I'm going to be in Atlanta
at the Hall of Fame, I mean, it's it's beyond humbling.
And I just I always looked at reflecting as a
sign of weakness because you didn't have time looking backwards
when you're coaching, you didn't have time. Now I retired
with no desire to go back and just doing TV
and really enjoying my family. In life, is that I
(16:21):
can reflect and say, Mike gosh, it I have some
good players, Mike Gosh that I have some great assistant
coaches and went on to be head coaches, and so
I'm just very fortunate.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
Would you do it again?
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Would you go back into college?
Speaker 4 (16:36):
No? No? No? Yeah? You no, I'm good. Good. I
like we were good? Yeah, i'd like you we good?
Speaker 1 (16:46):
All right?
Speaker 2 (16:47):
All right, you said, because you're one of the greats,
you still got something you coach.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
That's why I just say that, you know.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Maybe you'll change your mind at some point, because there
are some guys out there that neet that second third
and one hundred chants. And with that being said, I'd
like to segue that into the idea and the question
of you're good, but there are.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Coaches that are still coaching.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
What does it take to be a successful coach in
today's game?
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Because there are so many different moving parts?
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Now, what would your advice be to a young coach
or a coach that's in the game right now, especially
at the college level.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Yeah, I'm still dear friends with a lot of them,
and I'm almost like a counselor to some you know,
where I'm a sounding board and a lot of times
this is not this is crazy, and then there's so
much good to it, and let's send the hotspots. The
hotspots are the name and likeness, which I've always been
a proponent. You know, this is the United States of America.
If someone can make money, legitimate money out their name
(17:48):
and likeness, that's the foundation of our country. It's called capitalism. Sure,
I was dead Sentigran. So if you if you're a
great swimmer and you want to utilize your followers and
make apps, absolutely, I mean that's for the NCAA.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
That was wrong.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
But then what happened was it became't paid for playing.
I'm not a fan of that. You know, when boosters
throwing millions and millions of dollars and you pay a
seventeen year old through his agent, you know, whatever it is,
I know I'm not a fan of that at all.
So I nameing likeness is good. I think there needs
to be some guardrails, which I don't know what they
are right now. I don't think anyone does. The second
(18:25):
one is the transfer portal. I think for the graduate
student it was excellent. I little alarming now that you
see kids transferring four and five times, and that just
tells me academics are not important and someday that player
is not going to be able to run a four
to four anymore, and he's going to have to provide
for three children.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
And there's only one way to do that. It's called
a job. Job, So I gotta show up.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Yeah, I think the number one thing you can see
is kind of a young man's game. Now. The coaching
staffs are getting younger and younger, which I agree with.
When I was, you know, the old krusty dude is,
you know it should be doing a podcast, which is
what I'm doing.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
I don't know that I buy that.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
I still think that there's a place for the wisdom
and the leadership that guys like urban Meyer bring to
the table.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
It didn't almost happen.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Urban Meyer almost didn't happen because he was a baseball player.
He was a pretty good baseball player, ended up getting drafted.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
What was what?
Speaker 3 (19:29):
What? Like?
Speaker 1 (19:30):
What went into that?
Speaker 4 (19:31):
Like?
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Give us some context because people may not know that
that you were a dope baseball player and it could
have easily ended up you being a skipper versus being
a coach.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
What what helped you make the decision from one to
the other.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
I was drafted as a junior as a as a
seventeen year old senior in high school, and uh, I
was a better baseball player than football player. But my
passion has always been the game of football. So I
went and played professional baseball, had an injury, was cut
after my second year by a guy named Hank Aaron
cut me. I still got his autograph.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
He got an autograph. You remembered him.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Yeah, I got his autograph and said you're unconditionally released.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Yeah, when he cut me. And then.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
But then I went on to become a graduate student
Ohio State, and that was my first taste of big
time college football. And I got a big break when
I went from I went to Illinois State and then
I went to Colorado State with coach o'bruce took me
from the guy that got fired at Ohio State, and
that was my career.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
And I kind of, like I said LeVar, I was
lucky man.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
I knew at a young age I wanted to coach
this great game.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Did you have a checklist of people like because just
getting to know you through the years, I feel like coach.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Urban Meyer had a checklist the people that like I know.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
There's a fun story about you calling coach Saban for
a job and he never got back to you.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Did you have a checklist of guys?
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Check him off the list, check that program off the list,
check him off you know. I called it a kill list.
You know I'm a defensive guy. I called a kill list.
I had people I was checking them off my list.
I wanted to get an Emitt Smith. I wanted to
get Jerome Bettist. I wanted to get Fred Taylor. I
had a real kill list. Quarterbacks, not so much, but
(21:22):
running backs. I had a list of running backs that
I wanted to check off the list and put them
on my kill Did you have a did you have
a checklist? I will call a checklist for you. I
will call it a kill shee. Did you have a
checklist of people who maybe you you know, they didn't
treat you the right way, or maybe you didn't feel
(21:43):
like they believed in you, or you didn't get an opportunity.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
I know you had one. You gotta have one. How
was that? How do you have any more checks left?
Or did you check them all off?
Speaker 4 (21:55):
No?
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Everyone has a checklist. You know, we're warriors. God created
man to be warrior, you know, And what's a warrior doing?
I've actually spoken corporate America a bunch of places. And
I always tell them that one of the things you're
missing is who's your enemy? Who?
Speaker 4 (22:10):
Who?
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Who's I mean, that's not that's the way when you
wake up every morning, what's your target? If you answer
the question, I don't have one, then you're probably not
grinding real hard. You know, in Ohio State we had
a very clear targets. The team up north, you know,
the wol Greens. That was our target. In every waking
moment you spend on trying to defeat that enemy. And
I whether you're a Navy seal, an Army ranger, a
(22:33):
Green Beret, or a football coach, or a middle or
an outside linebacker at Penn State, you need to have
a target. So of course I did. And I don't
know if I actually had a checklist, But you know
you don't.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Have a checklist. Coach, you had a checklist? Coach you did?
I know you did. There were names, they were names.
You had names, coach, Sure, yeah you did.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
I'm not going to share them with but short.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
No, no, I don't want to to serum. I watch
it cerrum. I do not watch it at cerial. But
I just I like the fact that you were willing
to conferm it. You had your names, There had to
be names, and it had to feel really good. How
did it feel when you check them off? Like when
you check like there's a check. How did that feel?
Speaker 3 (23:18):
It was kind of overwhelmed by the guys I wasn't
able to check off because there's a few on that
list that I just couldn't get. No, that was the
ones that keep you awake at night, you know, uh,
the one, not the ones you check off the list.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
Great question, though, all.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Right, I'm not gonna hold you up much longer.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
Listen.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
There have been so many things that we can pinpoint
as positives and just amazing things that have had been
a part of your career. And you mentioned just how
much you loved your guys and how that played a
major part in the decisions that you made, and just
how much coaching meant to you talked about the idea
(23:59):
of the game getting younger for coaches now and innil
what would your advice be to the players, like just
to close out, because good in the game to me,
as it represents to the players is the understanding that
being the best you.
Speaker 4 (24:18):
I always say.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
For some reason, sometimes it gets confused the message of
being a great teammate and being a great player gets confused.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
The thing.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
You gotta find a healthy balance between being selfish and
being selfless. I told somebody the other day, I said, listen,
if you can't build yourself to being the best self,
then you don't have enough self to be self less.
You have no self to give the others to be
self less. What would your message be to players today?
(24:48):
Because that nil and name, image and all the stuff.
The agents coming out of the woodwork, and now they
can get you while you're even in youth football, not
just college. They can get you while you're in you
high school. There's a lot of moving parts now that
are added. What would your message be to today's athlete,
to today's football players.
Speaker 4 (25:09):
It's been the same since day one.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
I stand in front of a team and that is
what's your five year, ten year plan and fifteen year plan?
And the answer is yes, if we can help get
you there. You know, this is not immediate gratification. This
is you can't start tomorrow. That's not the way this
thing works. Maybe you can't. I mean, you know, God,
Perscy Harvin didn't have to sit the bench very long.
There's a lot of guys that you have to you know,
it's a it's a method, it's a process, and keep
(25:33):
investing in yourself. And I would be so guarded right
now with all these agents. And are there good agents?
There's great agents, are there bad agents? There's awful ones
that are so invest in yourself. What the number one
investment to me is prepper is in academics? Is you know,
making sure that you can go function outside the framework
(25:55):
of a school. Well hostake gives that player everything. There's
nothing that player has to do other than work hard.
You know, the money, the dorm, the apartment, the food,
the all you know, you know what it is. It's
a thousand times better than when you playing.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
So what is that?
Speaker 3 (26:12):
If that was my son? What are you doing to
invest in yourself? Tell me about your internship. I don't
give a damn about if you're running the curl right
at fourteen or twelve, that's not important to me. Tell
me about the internship on your career choice once this
is done, because at some point now this is going
to be done and I don't want to look at it.
(26:32):
And I've had its horror horror stories to me to
this day, I still have players whether they're asking me
for money or they're saying what do I do?
Speaker 4 (26:40):
I'm like, what do you do? We talked about this.
So that's my.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Biggest thing is the life after football component is the
ultimate responsibility of a coach, a teacher, a parent, not
not getting that square in at sixteen yards, yeah, but
making sure that young man has a suit, a jack
and a tie and he can walk into a boardroom
and say this is the reason you need to hire
me if you do that job out all right?
Speaker 4 (27:05):
I lad I got one more coach.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Dion Standers is getting looked at for this this Cowboys job,
but he's done such an exceptional job at Colorado. If
you were giving coach Prime advice and maybe you have,
what would you tell him to do?
Speaker 1 (27:22):
What do you think he should do?
Speaker 4 (27:24):
You know, Dion has been a friend for a long time. Man.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
We actually called me one time asking for advice about stuff,
and I went out to at Fox. We had him
for three games and so I called him. I said,
can I come visit practice? Because what is this Deon Sanders?
You know the golden necklaces, the you know, the whole
coach Prime sweatshirts he wearers and the sunglasses and the
hoodie and all that, and you know what I want.
I called all my boys at Big New and I said, boys,
(27:48):
this is legit. This is before the prime phenomena really happened.
I watched their practice. He you talk about a tough dude,
Now he don't play. He does not play that. I
saw two kids not hustling off the field one time,
and he interrupted our conversation.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
I'll be right back.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
He done cuss, but he went wild about discipline, about
doing things the right way. So I get uncomfortable sometimes.
I see the way he does it with all the
you know, the chador and the watches and all that,
and I think it's great TV.
Speaker 4 (28:22):
But then when you go dig in.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
I'm telling you there is a real substance.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
LeVar. Look at look like, what kind of father that
guy is?
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (28:31):
Th kid? Those kids are awesome as they are.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
I mean, that's all you gotta do is look at
your child and to say, is a good day. Absolutely,
And then you go really study him and watch him
speak to his team like I did, and go in
the player meetings and the coaches meetings.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
I walked away and I said, this is legit. Man.
When he's done in Colorado's phenomenal.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
You know, he the NFL thing didn't Obviously I didn't
do well, but he if he decides to, I know
he'll do well.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
You think you will, I do.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
I think it's the league is different, and you said
you didn't do well, but the league is very It's
I mean, who's doing well at Jacksonville? I mean, I'm
just let's just be let's call a spade a spade.
Culture is culture? Do you feel like it's harder to
create the culture in which you want to create at
that level versus in college Because to me, I felt
(29:18):
like I had a great, amazing college career as a player,
but I'm left to deal with the culture that I'm
drafted to and I didn't get drafted to a good
cultural situation.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
And we didn't win.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
You know, so that's got to be just as hard,
if not harder, for a coach to be able to
try to navigate those waters. And that's why I was
wondering from your perspective, if you're Dion, do you take
on that challenge because you can be an urban Myra
or a Deon Sanders, But if that ownership, if their
culture is not that of a healthy culture that's conducive
(29:54):
to success in that locker room and in that building.
I don't care if it's Jesus himself that came from
Nazareth to come coach that team, it's not going to work.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
Yeah, that's a great something day. I'll write a book
about it. I did.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
I made some mistakes at Jacksonville, and but I also
I walked in and it was the culture is awful.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
I mean it was terrible. It was they.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
Weren't it was I would say in inner city bad.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
High school is how bad the facilities were? Dang?
Speaker 3 (30:25):
You know there were bugs, there were rodents, there was
you know, it was I remember going, wait, wait what
I never saw before I took a job and I
was like, Mike, wait a minute, what are we doing?
And I was the guy just pushing, pushing. And they
built a new facility. Now there's they had. They had
to do that. But how do you treat if you're
going to grind people and push people, how do you
not give them the very best of the best. You know,
(30:46):
our practices were very hard. We were Navy seals. We
were gonna at the end of the day. I wanted
them to sit down at the bench and go, wow,
we just we just banked a good day. But they
also knew they're getting ready to go to the best
food in the United States of America. They had the
best training staff and in the United States of America,
they also prehab rehab whatever they want. I would always
tell them the answers, yes, just tell me what you need,
(31:10):
and the answers, yes, you don't have to go pay
for yourself. We had guys going to pay for their own,
you know, massages in their own I'm like, wait, what
this is the what are we doing?
Speaker 4 (31:20):
Right?
Speaker 3 (31:20):
So, you know, and I have a probably a little
more forceful way of going after things. And it pissed
off a lot of people. And but that's okay. I'm
I'm very comfortable now and move on. And but you're right,
it's I would say NFL is much. But I think
the Cowboys are a team of excellence. I know they've
had their I would imagine the Cowboys have the best
(31:42):
of the very best. You know, I came from Ohio State.
If you walk in the infrastructural house state, I'm biased,
there's no better. You can't walk into Ohio State and say, man,
I wish your your trainers did a little better job
because I'd look at you.
Speaker 4 (31:55):
That's not true. The Olympics don't have better trainers than
we have.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
We're the first team to have our own physical therapist,
own sports psychologists, own nutritionists.
Speaker 4 (32:04):
We have all that way before all this, and so
our players.
Speaker 3 (32:07):
If you're supposed to be one hundred and eighty six
pounds bench in three point fifty, then you're going to
be four.
Speaker 4 (32:13):
You're going to be doing to be Yeah, that's deep. Coach.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
Hey, listen, I appreciate your time. Everyone that's Coach urban Meyer.
Give it up for coach. Appreciate you coming on, making
some time. And this is why I do this show.
This is what's good in the game. To be able
to have the opportunity to hear the wisdom from someone
like you and to just be able to listen to
(32:42):
your experiences and what works and what makes it make sense.
Very honored, very humble, coach. I appreciate your time, and yeah,
keep it going. You do a great job. A big
fan of you on the big New Keep doing your thing.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
Appreciate you, Love you, brother.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Okay, okay, coach, all right, that was Coach urban Meyer.
You heard it here.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
Man He has some real, real strong things to talk about.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
What's good in the game.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
Psychology, how does that play apart his major in college?
How did that play a part? And how he handled
his business as a coach. We talked about kill lit well,
I had to kill list, checklist, he said, warriors have checklist.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
You got that right.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
So many things that coach urban Meyer had to talk about.
Really really enjoyed it, and listen. We have those interviews
coming and coming and coming again. Make sure you're staying
locked in and tuned in to Good in the Game podcast.
Make sure you rate, subscribe, tell a friend about it,
all right, contribute listen because we are making sure we
(33:53):
bring to you the stories that matter the most from
the National Football Foundation's perspective of what's good in the game.
I'm LeVar Arrington. This has been an excellent episode. Appreciate
you guys tuning in. Until next time, we'll talk to you.
Fox Sports Radio News
Host
Jonas Knox
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