Earlier this week, Ohio State held a press conference to announce head football coach Urban Meyer will retire following the team’s Rose Bowl game against Washington. Former offensive coordinator Ryan Day will take over as the team’s new head coach entering the 2019 season.
Immediately following the news, Meyer’s former players and Buckeyes fans around the country flooded social media with messages for the head coach. While most were positive, there remains a question about Meyer’s legacy at Ohio State following his three-game suspension from earlier in the season.
Ohio State suspended Meyer after Brett McMurphy reported the coach failed to remove Zach Smith from his coaching staff despite claims of abuse by Smith’s wife. Meyer had a combative relationship with the media leading up to the suspension.
On Wednesday morning, Dan Le Batard revealed he and Meyer shared the same agent – though that agent bailed on Meyer when the Ohio State coach failed to heed his advice.
“During that mess, my agent bailed — my agent got out of that because he wasn’t taking advice. He was just doing the same thing he always does — being smug, arrogant Urban Meyer. He got into this mess because he taunted the media with arrogance about that entire incident. That’s how it started, and people started following up.”
Clearly a divide developed between Meyer and former agent Trace Armstrong. Regardless, Meyer leaves Ohio State as one of the most-accomplished coaches in college football.
The impact of the Zach Smith saga on his legacy remains to be seen.