Urban Meyer’s name has come up a lot lately as the end of the college football season approaches. Without a job at the moment, Meyer is easily the hottest “free agent” coaching name available and is further appealing to many as they wouldn’t have to pay another school any money to land him, unlike many other hot coaching names like Dan Lanning, Deion Sanders or Kalen DeBoer who are all under contract at their current institutions.
At the moment, there are two power five jobs available, and both are in the SEC which has been seen as the best conference in college football for the last 15 years or so. Texas A&M fired Jimbo Fisher this past Sunday opening up the job in College Station with the Aggies, and Mississippi State fired first-year head coach Zach Arnett in Starkville opening up the job with the Bulldogs.
Fisher was making more than $9 million annually with the Aggies, while Arnett was making $3 million annually with the Bulldogs.
With Urban’s track record of success including two national championships at two different power five schools in Florida and Ohio State and a career 85% win percentage, which would tie him for second in the SEC as far as current head coaches go, it’s not far-fetched to think that each of these schools would give Meyer a call.
Why Mississippi State is the best landing spot for Urban Meyer
Based on each school’s budget which is proportional to what the previous coaches made at each university, the Aggies could pay Meyer substantially more than the Bulldogs. And for a coach with a track record like Meyer, he’d be deserving of the money, and it’d most likely pay off for the Aggies.
On the surface, sure Meyer should take the job with the most money, most resources, etc., right? That may be so for a coach that’s up and coming trying to prove their worth, as well as increase their career earnings, but Meyer isn’t that coach.
At 59 years old, Meyer is a 17-year college football coach veteran with stops at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State. During his 17 years in college and one failed season as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL, Meyer has a net worth of between $35-$40 million according to Clutch Points.
With his earnings has come highly speculated health problems for Meyer which he expressed to a degree during the featured documentary, “Untold: Swamp Kings” on Netflix.
With higher salaries like the one he’d have with the Aggies comes higher expectations. And with higher expectations can come anxiety and other issues which Urban said himself to have experienced during his time at the University of Florida.
In Starkville, the Bulldogs expectations wouldn’t necessarily be to win an SEC or national championship like they would be in College Station. Dan Mullen coached the Bulldogs for nine seasons from 2009-2017, going 69-46 including two nine win and one 10 win season before leaving to take the job with the Florida Gators in 2018. Considering that Meyer is unarguably a better coach than Mullen who was lauded with the Bulldogs, Meyer could actually set himself up for even more success in Starkville. And his health may be in a better state because of less pressure.
So while dollar signs may be one thing and make the most sense on the surface, the backstory to Meyer and his challenges in his previous stops as head coach, Starkville may indeed be the best fit for Meyer. The question also is would Meyer be the best for Starkville given his controversial past.