Urban Meyer continues to be mentioned for vacant college football head coaching jobs.
The three-time national title-winning head coach last coached in the NFL. Meyer had a disastrous one-year tenure with the Jacksonville Jaguars, before getting fired. But at the college football level, Meyer has been elite. He led Florida to two national championships before taking over the Ohio State Buckeyes program in 2012. He led the Buckeyes to a national championship in his third season. Meyer went 7-0 against Michigan during his time in Columbus, too.
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Meyer has since been working in TV. He’s an analyst for FOX and the Big Ten Network, serving as a lead voice for “Big Noon Kickoff.” But could he be on the verge of a return to the sport?
Former Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer, now with Fox Sports, watches on the sideline during the NCAA football game against the Texas Longhorns at Ohio Stadium on Aug. 30, 2025.© Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Urban Meyer spent the weekend meeting with Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick. Meyer, who hasn’t coached in college football since 2018, talked to the U.S. Senator about “leadership, teamwork, and serving something bigger than yourself.”
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Is he angling for the Penn State job?
Urban Meyer to Penn State?
Sports media personality and radio host Craig Carton believes that Meyer’s meeting with the Pennsylvania Senator was about the Penn State job.
“Unless he’s handicapping Bucknell’s game this week, my gut is he’s talking to Penn State,” Carton said of Meyer being spotted on Capitol Hill, per Awful Announcing. “Which would make complete sense and be totally on brand for Urban Meyer to immediately insert himself into the most attractive college football opening in the land. Like, that is the job to get. So, I would not be surprised if Urban dusts off the old resume and convinces Penn State, ‘I’m the answer.’”
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Penn State, which fired Franklin after three straight losses to Oregon, UCLA and Northwestern, needs to “make a deal with the devil” in order to win big, according to Carton.
“Because Penn State needs to make a deal with the devil if they want to win a National Championship,” Carton continued. “You can already recruit there. He comes with National Championships. He’s done it at multiple schools now. Urban Meyer goes to Penn State, the Penn State cult members go crazy.”
Meyer, meanwhile, thinks Penn State already knows who they are going to hire.
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“When you fire a coach that his record was 104-45, was in the Rose Bowl, the Peach Bowl, and was a score away from playing for a National Championship, and 16 days ago could possibly be the No. 1 team in the country — I don’t think you make that move, with a $75 million expense coming, unless you know who you’re going to hire,” Meyer said.
Meyer, who went 187-32 overall in 17 seasons as a head coach, is one of the greatest ever in the history of the sport. But college football looks a lot different now than it did when Meyer was dominating at Florida and Ohio State.
Would he be capable of succeeding in today’s game?
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This story was originally reported by The Spun on Oct 28, 2025, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.