Meyer to Join ESPN a Analyst: Dude, I thought you were TIRED.

Since leaving one of the best jobs in college sports, being the head coach of Florida (as much as I hate Florida, it’s a good job if you want to be a head coach, just not if you’re a Dawg, that’s all…looking at you, Muschamp!), former head coach Urban Meyer has still been a busy guy. Throughout the BCS Bowl Game Season and all over the ABC Family of Networks, ESPN paraded Meyer around like he was Secretariat, making sure he was at every stage the College GameDay (football version) were located, even having some face-time with former rival SEC coach Nick Saban when he was on-set with the crew.

Now, announced today, Meyer has a permanent job with the “Worldwide Leader in Sports”, and starting Wednesday on ESPNU’s marathon coverage of National Signing Day (or the NCAA’s free-for-all on cheap labor), Meyer will be a studio analysis for ESPN shows “College Football Live” and “College Game Day”.

Meyer, when asked about the new position, states, “It’s a great opportunity to stay around the game”.

But isn’t coaching a great way to stay around the game?

I am sure Tim Tebow will be pleased.

No! You can’t have it because it’s MINE! MY CRYSTAL FOOTBALL! MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE! (from google.com)

This is what bothers me about the hiring. On December 8th, almost a year to the date when he decided to retire sighting health concerns after losing to Alabama in the 2009 SEC Championship (in Tebow’s last season at Florida), Meyer said that he wanted to leave the game he has spent over 25 years coaching to “spend more time with his family”. Whether or not he meant his media family that loves him and supports him so much is yet to be unseen, but taking this job seems to contradict the statements he made when he left the Florida program. Florida, in their 2010 campaign, had a down year as far as their concerned, with a new quarterback and losing a tremendous amount of senior leadership to graduation and/or the NFL from the years of his 2 National Championships. The Gators went 9-5, with a bowl win against the legendary Joe Paterno and Penn State in the Outback Bowl, and no national championship to contend for. Sounds like when Tebow left, so did the will to win for Meyer, so he left a team he recruited, a program he resurrected from the Ron Zook era, let his assistants take better jobs (under better coaches), or lose their jobs and left the Gators and the coaching ranks. What bothers me about this is ESPN and Urban Meyer facilitating coaches who like to be on television and liking their persona’s, egos, and celebrity rise above what we should be talking about —-sports! This gives me a sour taste because whenever I have seen Meyer on ESPN throughout his tenure at Florida as being personified as bigger than the program, while all he is is a mere opportunist who seeks his own ego to be inflated, rather than keeping his word. From Bowling Green, to Utah, to Florida, and now to ESPN, Meyer’s actions have proven he wants the stage to get bigger and bigger and bigger only for him to be seen. Some see it as a person who desires bigger and better things. To me, however, it screams ego-maniac.

Perhaps Will Muschamp, the new Gator HC, will not give up so quickly.
Meyer reminds me of a close friend that I have. Loves to hear himself talk, loves the spotlight, likes to never be forgotten by anyone. While he is on ESPNU covering the National Signing Day coverage, and sees his former colleagues actually doing what they love, which is getting young men to come to school and play sports, he will be using his talents, I guess. Here is a quote from the article:

“Coach Meyer brings a fresh voice and a contemporary knowledge of the game,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president for production. “As he showed during BCS coverage, his ability to communicate the strategic aspects of the game and his incredible track record for success will serve college football fans everywhere.”

Isn’t that what Herbstriet and Desmond Howard are for?

Quotes and information used for this post are from espn.com. Images from google.com