Will Cain Country - Urban Meyer: How to Survive College Football’s New Era

Episode Date: September 26, 2025

On this Friday sports edition of ‘Will Cain Country,’ Will and 3x National Champion College Football Coach, Analyst of FOX's ‘Big Noon Kickoff,’ and Host of ‘The Triple Option,’ Urban Meyer go over the biggest stories in College Football this week. Coach Meyer dives deep into how the rise of NIL deals has impacted the collegiate football recruiting process, sharing some of his biggest successes and failures from the time where ‘winning the living room’ still mattered. Plus, Will and Coach Meyer dive into Florida State’s turnaround under Mike Norvell’s leadership, the other big name head coaches facing heat after big losses, and the quarterback drama ahead of the upcoming game between University of Texas and University of Oklahoma. Subscribe to ‘Will Cain Country’ on YouTube here: ⁠⁠Watch Will Cain Country! ⁠⁠Follow ‘Will Cain Country’ on X (@willcainshow), Instagram (@willcainshow), TikTok (@willcainshow), and Facebook (@willcainnews) Follow Will on X: ⁠⁠@WillCain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When you're with Amex Platinum, you get access to exclusive dining experiences and an annual travel credit. So the best tapas in town might be in a new town altogether. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Terms and conditions apply. Learn more at Amex.ca. www.ca.com. Did you lock the front door?

Check. Close the garage door? Yep. Installed window sensors, smoke sensors, and HD cameras with night vision? No. And you set up credit card transaction alerts, a secure VPN for a private connection and continuous monitoring for our personal info on the dark web.

Uh, I'm looking into it. Stress less about security. Choose security solutions from TELUS for peace of mind at home and online. Visit TELUS.com. Total Security to learn more. Conditions apply. Is the Florida State turnaround real? How about the turnaround in Southern California?

What do we make of the Trojans? And is the fall complete in Florida? That plus Texas A&M, the University of Texas, Oklahoma. and who is the best unknown coach in college football with three-time national champion, Urban Meyer. It is Will Kane Country, Canaan Sports. Every Friday today, we are joined by a very special guest. He's a three-time national champion.

He's the host of Big Noon kickoff on Fox Sports. He's also the host of the Triple Option Show with Mark Ingram and Rob Stone breaking down college football. Today we will be joined by former Utah Ute, Cincinnati Bingle, Florida Gator, and Ohio State Buckeye coach Urban Meyer. But before we get to college football, I wanted to talk to you about a story that's really upsetting me in, give me a little patience, the world of soccer you can bring in two a days dan and tinfoil pat if you like but here's the thing in the world of soccer we have become conditioned to rooting for big european clubs my boys play soccer as you know and that's turned me into a fan of the english premier league manchester city i now watch a little liga in spain don't watch as much syria but we're going to start watching

it uh in italy and then there is the bundesliga in Germany. When you focus on the Bundesliga, you really end up focusing on two teams. Byron Munich, who is the Barcelona, the PSG of the Bundesliga, dominating that league for years on end. But when there is a challenge to Bayern Munich, that challenge usually comes from BVB, Barusia, Dortmund. That brand, the yellow and black, has become a brand that you will see on jerseys all across america little kids wearing bvb notably because they're bit of a feeder franchise they develop talent and sell it on to the big programs earling holland jaden sancho christian pulisic all came up if not from the beginning of their career in the middle stages of

their career at bvb and it's made you feel like they're the little program that could so much so that the BVB brand is all across America. My kids play in a league in the Southwest called ECNL. And inside the ECNL, where they play for FC Dallas, you will see programs from Houston, from Denver, from Oklahoma City, and many, many, many from Dallas. One of the programs in Dallas is affiliated with BVB. I tell you all that as background for sort of the significance of this

program, the little engine that could that has an American presence, that's brought up American players like Pulisic, and today I find a club that should be absolutely banished from recognition in the United States of America. I kind of liked and had a soft spot for BVB, and today I want nothing to do with BVE. Why? I'm going to tell you why. BVB found itself in the news cycle in America based upon an Instagram post Nimcheca made in a tribute to Charlie Kirk. The headline reads on Instagram, Dortmund tells Felix Nimcheca to seek approval before posting religious or political content on social media after Charlie Kirk post. What did Nimcheca post? I'm going to read to you now from his post.

In his Instagram, Nimcheca shared a black and white photo of Kurt. with the message, rest in peace with the Lord, such a sad day. May the Lord be with the Kirk family. He followed up that story with posts referencing his Christian faith, which drew criticism from sections of Dortmund's support. So, a display of his Christian faith in combination with a honorance or remembrance of a man who was assassinated earned the criticism of a large portion of the fan base of Dortmund, and then the condemnation from Dortmund. Club's CEO Lars Ricken and sporting director Sebastian Kel said the matter will be dealt with internally, but stress that Nemcheca will have to clarify his digital messages with BBB in advance

to avoid future controversy. So he has to pre-approve anything he has to say in the future about his religious faith or simply sending prayers and thoughts to a man who had been murdered because what? Because what BVB? Because what Germany? Here's a question. If Nimcheca had posted a pride flag, would he have to seek that same approval by the organization? If he had posted a Muslim holiday recognition, would he have to seek the approval of BVB? If he had posted anything Islamic professing his faith, would he have to seek approval in Germany? But in this case, his Christian faith, and combined with the remembrance of Charlie Kirk, requires the approval of his employer, BVB. For anyone saying, well, an employer does have a right to monitor

your messages when you're a representative of the brand. Yes, of course, they have that right. And I have the right to, in turn, judge that brand. And if your brand finds that a religious profession of Christian faith is too controversial, you're not for me. That brand, as far as I'm concerned, doesn't belong in a community, say, like Dallas, Texas, where we have moved beyond any semblance that religious faith is controversial, much less something to be hidden or to be shy. It is bold. Welcome to a new America. And if you think sending prayers to a family who lost their husband to murder is somehow controversial, I find you too controversial for America. As far as I'm concerned, that brand should be torched in America.

No jersey sales, no club franchises, no youth leagues, no nothing in America. Good luck with those jersey sales in Saudi Arabia. Let's move to college sports. We're going to talk about every program from Texas A&M to the Florida Gators, from USC to Penn State. Up and coming coaches to the future of Billy Napier, Lincoln Riley, Mike Gundy, and Mike Norvell. We break it down with a man who would know he is a three-time national champion. He is Urban Meyer. Listen to the all-new Brett Bear podcast featuring Common Ground, in-depth talks with lawmakers from opposite sides of the aisle,

along with all your Brett Bear favorites like his All-Star panel and much more. Available now at Fox News Podcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Jimmy Phala, inviting you to join me for Fox Across America where we'll discuss every single one of the Democrats' dumb ideas. Just kidding. It's only a three-hour show. Listen live at noon Eastern or get the podcast at Fox Across America.com. This is Jason Chaffetz from the Jason in the House podcast. Join me every Monday to dive deeper into the latest political headlines and chat with remarkable guests. Listen and follow now at Fox Newspodcast.com. Or wherever you download podcasts. national champion, co-host of Big Noon Kickoff, also along with Mark Ingram and Rob Stone, the host of the Triple Option podcast. Coach Urban Meyer joins us now here on Will King Country.

What's up, Coach? Good to see you, man. You're killing it, and I love to see you doing well. Thank you so much, Coach. It's always good to see you as well. Let's start. I want to talk about the idea and the concept of the turnaround. I want to walk through a couple of programs. We'll base this on. This premise will be based upon Florida State and Mike Norville. We are going to recognize we're just three games into the season and a lot. We'll start to happen this weekend as we start to get bigger games, conference games on everyone's schedule.

But two and ten last year, already have won more games than they did last year, of course, with a big victory over Alabama. So I want to start with Florida State and I want to ask you, do you believe in the turnaround? round. And if you do, how was that done by Mike Norville? I do. I know Mike Norvel very well. I'm a fan of his. He won at Memphis State and just a first class guy that works his tail off. And it was disaster last year. And he did what a leader has to do. He kind of identified major flaws. And there were flaws. You watch him play and it was, it was bad. It was not, those weren't misses. Those were, that was a really bad team last year. And he, I think he made one of the, of the best hires in the last several years. He hired Gus Malazahn to run the offense.

And when you hire a guy like that, a little bit like when I hired Ryan Day, you're hiring a guy that you don't have to worry about that anymore because like a lot of people in leadership positions, you have this to worry about, this to worry about. Your focus nowadays with the NIL, with transfer portal, with all this stuff going on, your focus better be on that. It better not be on who's calling the offense and why did they run that plane on 30. and three. He just don't have that kind of time. Ryan Day did the same thing when he hired Chip Kelly, National Championship.

Mike Norvell, still early, but I think that was one of the biggest hires they made. They hired one of the best offensive minds in the game, and Gus Melon's on, and it got been a head coach. So, and I've talked to Mike about this. He officially doesn't have to worry about the offense.

So that's interesting. Let's talk about how you see the job as the head football coach had a big collegiate atmosphere, a big-time university, and it's changed over time. It's changed over the course of your career, and it's probably changed even since your retirement. There's so much that's required of the job, to your point, from recruiting to CEO, to hiring, to now maintaining a budget as well when it comes to NIL.

I don't even know what we would place at the top of the sort of priority and talent list when someone's looking for a head coach? Well, I learned this as an early coach. There's two things you have to do when you take over. Number one is develop and implement a culture. That's number one. Number two is talent acquisition. And number two now has become very complex.

It used to be fairly, I don't say simple, but there was a calendar in place. You went out either outwork people in recruiting or you didn't. You sold your school, you sold your network system. And as a head coach, you went out and tried out work everybody. That's gone. you know now it's simply how do you manage this you know i i had a very prominent it was bill self the basketball coach of kansas we did a game there and he came up to me he goes man you'd love

this recruiting i looked him like what what do you love this recruiting and he said yeah remember the days of writing notes and and getting to meet the girlfriends and the uncles and the grandmothers and eating dinner there he goes you don't do they he was just simply find out what the number is and either you pay them or you don't and i don't know if i agree with that that's no It's not, that's not, no one's asking me if I agree with it, but that's what it is. So to answer your question, Will, the talent acquisition piece used to be fairly regular, now it's irregular. It's, it's something you better manage 24-7 because you can wake up one day and your best player is off to another school. And that's what occupies everyone's time.

You and I've gotten to know each other a little bit personally, and I remember hanging out with you and you talking to me about the living room. One of my best friends, growing up was a big five-star, before they even called them five-star recruits, I think, in the 90s. And he could have gone anywhere. And I remember when he was going through the process, talking about different coaches that came to my little town of Sherman, Texas, and who was capable of winning the locker room? And by the way, what a unique skill set of personality trades to win over a small town boy, white boy in rural Texas, and also to be able walk into an urban Dallas neighborhood and went over the black family. And that whole, that whole world of

winning the living room sounds like, like what you just described, it's not really in the skill set anymore. It's now budget management. I get what self is saying, just figure out the number and write the check. But that's not what you told me it was like for you. You had to go win the living room. Yeah, that's, you know, you look at my era and it was Nick Sabin was elite recruiter, you know, back in the day, less miles. And obviously, even further back, Bobby Bowden was well documented. And you would always find out who that kid, who that young person was being recruited by. And I remember, you know, I had to get my mind right. If I knew Nick Saban was in there right before me, I mean, I would work and I would challenge my assistant coach to make sure that once

we walk in that room, the table is set because I can't set the table. I'm kind of the, you know, the head coach is not, that's not his job. And so, So when I would walk in, this is a great, well, and I would walk in with an assistant coach, and all of a sudden the mom or the uncle or the father, they come over and give the coach a big hug, and great to see you again. And hey, here's your iced tea and we're going to eat, you know, your favorite dinner that you had before. I'm thinking of myself, this table's set. Now what I got to do is close it.

If I walk in with that assistant coach and they're introducing each other like they don't know each other, first of all, I'd be pissed off at that coach because they didn't. do their job. And second all, now I'm not able to take the next step in recruiting if that makes sense. So a lot like corporate America, when you recruit a CEO, you better go through the proper channels. And before you get to that offer and before you get to the handshake, that's a very serious part where you're never going to get to that offer a handshake. And it's no different in recruiting in the old days. I don't believe it's like that anymore. Let's take a quick break. But we'll be right back on Will Kane Country.

I'm Janice Dean. Join me every Sunday as I focus on stories of hope and people who are truly rays of sunshine in their community and across the world. Listen and follow now at Fox Newspodcast.com. Hey, I'm Trey Gowdy host of the Trey Gowdy podcast. I hope you will join me every Tuesday and Thursday as we navigate life together and hopefully find ourselves a little bit better on the other side. Listen and follow now at Fox Newspodcast.com. what's your favorite story coach of a victory or your your favorite living room that you won I mean you've won so many so there's going to be so many to pick from and when people ask me will what's your favorite interview I don't really have a good answer somebody asked me that literally last night and I wish I had a better answer I've had so many great ones that I've loved

but if you look at your favorite living room victory where you walked out with your assistant coaches pumping your fist do you remember I got one so I was at a university of Florida, and I'm sitting there going through the top five defensive ends in the country, and I see this kid out of Bosco, New Jersey. His name's Justin Tradow. And I see he's like the number top five guy, and he's committed to Notre Dame. And I go to my D-Line coach. I said, why didn't we recruit this kid? He said, well, he goes to Catholic school, and, you know, those are hard to be. And he kind of just bumped up the ladder. So Notre Dame got him before we got him. So I called this guy up. I called Justin. I talked to his father.

and Greg Madison, we fly up there and we spend all day with a dad. And so he says, okay, I'll let you come in. And you need to know something. His mother is Irish Catholic. And she's a tough woman now. You better be ready because this will be a bloody, this will be a tough, tough sell. So, I mean, Greg, I and then we brought a guy named Steve a Dowsey, another great recruiter. And I mean, we are, I mean, we are so focused.

And I'm getting ready to get, you know, I don't know if she's going to throw a drink at me or what. I come walking into that front door and give her a big hug and we start talking. Within five minutes, we're having a really nice glass of wine and we're celebrating that her son's a Florida gator. So everybody was scared. Everybody was scared to death, but it turned out that deep in her heart, that's where she wanted them. Okay, no, now just curiosity has to push me to the other side. So what's your biggest disappointment? What was the guy you knew that you had and whether or not it was a last minute hat flip or whatever it may be?

you were most disappointed. They didn't end up Utah, Florida Gator, or Buckeye. I'd say C.J. Spiller. C.J. Spiller grew up 30 minutes from the swamp. He was a guy that, to this day, I'm still close with him. I love the guy. I tell people back in the day,

if we would have got C.J. Spiller, it wouldn't have been fair. Because we had a loaded team anyways, but he was that good. And on signing date, he picked up that Clemson hat. And I almost fell out of the chair. I couldn't believe it. C.J. Spiller, to this day, is I remind them every time I see him, man, you should have came to Florida. I love these stories. Okay, but back to the turnaround. So we've addressed one that we both think in the,

and on paper, or on the field, actually, the way they're playing. It looks like Mike Norville is pulling it off at Florida State. I want to kind of go down the ladder of the turnaround. I don't really know what's happened, and we'll lean on you with what's happened to USC and Lincoln Riley. Every year has been worse than the one before it, but this year looks better. That will be a big test this weekend. You've got the Big Ten game against Illinois. But do you, what do you think is going on? Is this turning a corner is a bit of a turnaround for Lincoln Riley and USC? Yeah, I'm going to actually cover USC. I texted with the head coach. I talked to the line coach. And so what happened When I was at Ohio State, we played USC in the bowl game.

We played Washington and the Rose Bowl, Oregon, and the national championship. And as you get ready for these Pac-12 teams, they had great skill, but their offensive and defensive and defense-aligned were very undersized and quite honestly just okay. And I always felt if we could equate the talent on the outside and make it be a rugged game, we'd win. And we did. We won all three of those games and won them pretty good. But when Oregon, USC, UCLA, and Washington went to the Big Ten, they made a concerted effort. And I verified that talking to their coaches, they better get bigger because they'll get embarrassed in the Big Ten.

I mean, if you line up week in, week out, with an undersized offense of a defense line, especially if you play some weather games, which you are now going to play because you're out of the Pac-12, you better be strong up front. The USC is ridiculous up front. They're back like the Pete Carroll days now. They have a really good offensive line. They're a run first. They're a tough physical outfit. And to me, they're night and day what they've been the last couple of years. They're actually what Lincoln Riley wanted.

But it was hard to, for some reason, that's not what they were. So look for USC that this is one of the best turnaround. This is a really good team. Now, obviously, get it certainly. And they got a rugged game against Illinois. But just look at the side 6, 6, 6, 6, 7 on the outside, 320, 3,000. 40 pounds. Oregon's done the same thing.

Oregon, when we played them in the national championship game, well, they were about 295, 300, 330 now. So they're just bigger. They made a concerted effort. And when you focus on anything like everybody knows, you get better at it. And that's what these pack 12 teams have done, the good ones. Okay, that's going to lead me into two follow-ups.

We'll pick up with Oregon. So it's a big test. These are two teams that every, everybody believes has, if not national championship level potential, definitely college football playoff potential, Oregon, Penn State this weekend. It's pretty interesting, coach. I think you will find it interesting. It was announced yesterday on Will Kane Country that a group of people affiliated with Turning

Point USA is going to be handing out 5,000 Charlie Kirk White Freedom shirts at State College. It's a white out game at Happy Valley. So it may blend into the crowd, but I think there will be a long line of those to get those shirts. There will be 5,000 Freedom Charlie Kurt shirts there at Penn State. That's going to be in the stands on the field, and you're welcome to address both sides if you like. But on the field, that's a big test. Which one of these teams puts themselves in front for the college football playoff? These are two great teams, well, these are two teams that Penn State's following the Wolverine and Ohio State template of veteran players coming.

back. You know, they had a bunch of players that many thought, including myself, would go to the NFL. They came back for a reason to win. And they had their non-conference schedule was ridiculous. It was soft. No one knows that Penn State's any good. The teams they played, you know, they I would always try to challenge elite, get one at least one or two good teams in there so you find out where you're at. But so no one knows, but they're talented. Oregon, you know, they played Oklahoma State and they play Northwestern normally a little bit better than they are and they were bad this year. So no one really knows about Oregon. I'm a big fan of both coaches, but Dan Landy and I visited him last year. I think he's one of the top coaches, if not the top in the

country. However, they're playing the white out at Penn State at night. I've said publicly, and I believe this, that's worth seven points. That that's how hard of a, if it's an immature team, well, it's more than that. But that, I don't know if you've ever been there. but that should be a bucket list for you. Penn State at night, white out, is the toughest place to play in college football. What are you putting that up against? I'm curious, you've done SEC, you've done Big Ten. At the time you were at Utah, you were what?

Mountain West. Utah was in the Mountain West at that time, I believe, or whatever it was called Mountain Something. I feel like that conference changed names several times. So when you say Penn State's the toughest place to play, like what are you else what are you what are you putting in the running along with that wide out game at night in state yeah i've been asked a million times and i i pen states number one i have on the swamp and now i've never been in the swamp when i was the opponent but when we were we were

had it going there that place was absolutely insanity uh so the swamp would be number two and the number three is ls u at night uh that place is whatever yeah that's a good good thing on my lifetime. I'll never be back there at night. So I still have nightmares about going into the Death Valley at night. So those are the top three. But you got Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina, and then you got obviously Ohio State is terrific. But those are the tough three, toughest three. Have you played at, I'm curious, have you played at College Station? Like, I'm just, I mean, A&M is one of those teams it's more never quite has lived up to its own expectations still Kyle field is a very hostile environment and by the way death valley's on my bucket list I haven't done that but you didn't

include college station yeah I went there when I was at Utah my first year and we came back and almost beat them right at we lost I think 28 26 right at the end of the game we scored and missed a two point conversion but I said this as well that The Texas A&M is the enigma of college sports. They have it all. They have, I mean, fan-based stadium, incredible talent within two hours of their stadium. They've had good coaches, but they have an empty trophy case, and I don't understand that. Texas A&M has all been one of my favorite places, and I don't understand why they're not a top five team.

And they got a good coach now. They got a really good coach now. Well, you say you don't understand, what would you guess? Why? I mean, you're right, it isn't an enigma. Why can't A&M be more than its resources suggest that it should be? Well, you have to look at why. The number one is lack of players.

You can't say that. Lack of resources. The other one, there's certain places out there that the fan, you know, just people don't care. You know, I will list the schools, but some out in the West Coast, they just don't, there's just not that much interest. You see 5,000 people in the stadium and you're like, What the hell is that? Where A&M, that's why I call them an enigma.

I can't, Will, I have no idea. I can't tell you why. Let's take a quick break, but we'll be right back on Will Cain Country. Okay, we'll stay in the state of Texas for one more a minute because when you were talking about USC, Oregon, and the PAC 12 teams coming into the big team, you're talking about size. And I remember when Sark was hired at the University of Texas, one of his first hires was Kyle Flood. And I remember that being Kyle Flood and Sark's whole thing before we get to the SEC and they had a couple of years leading up to it to prepare for it.

But it was, we've got to be bigger. And they were bringing in, and they still are bringing in gigantic offensive linemen. Like Kyle Flood clearly wants, like they've got a freshman from Georgia, 6, 7, I don't know, 340. And that's been the whole thing, just big, big, big dudes. And it worked for them their first year in the SEC. They were obviously didn't just compete. they won the regular season SEC. I don't know.

Something about that size made me think about Texas' transition. Oklahoma had a tougher transition. So I want to ask you about both those programs. John Mateer is hurt a little at OU and everybody's beginning to take them seriously and everybody's wondering about Arch at Texas. Yeah, that broke your heart about Mattier because he, I'm with Brady Quinn and Matt Liner, you know, the two quarterback gurus and they didn't like this kid. loved them. You know, big strong, I mean, a strong athletic guy. And that's heartbreaking. I don't,

you know, I just don't know enough about the backup. I have a lot of respect for Venerable, but this is his year. He's got to produce. And it looked like they were heading that direction. So I wouldn't give up on them. But obviously, you know, we lost our in 2014. We not only lost our starting quarterback. We lost our second quarterback and won it with a third string. I don't know what's behind them there. They have really good. They beat the Wolverines pretty sadly. Texas, I don't know. When I covered the Texas Ohio State game, I remember everybody was talking about Arch Manning, Heisman,

Arch Manning, number one draft pick. And I kept saying, guys, I went back and watched every snap, and he's a really good player. But he's not just, I think he's going to be a great player. But that takes time. It took Joe Burrow four years, four years to become Joe Burrough. I think Arch Manning maybe, you know, just it's going to take him a little bit of time.

He's got the skill set. He's got the namesake. He's a wonderful guy. He's going to be a great player. He's not a great player right now. And he's got the right coach. I'm still high on Texas. I think at the end of the day,

Texas will be in a playoff and making some noise at the end of the year. So you, this start and as concerning is what we saw against Ohio State, I would suggest is even more concerning what we saw against U-TEP. or San Jose State, this start hasn't made you lose belief in the long-term vision for Arch Manning or the long-term potential for Arch, but rather just how long it's going to take to get there? Yeah, because I've been in the battles before, and I've seen quarterbacks take a minute to develop. And as concerned as I'm not saying I'm not concerned, well, very concerned. But I guess I've been in that, you know, I've been there before with young players that takes a minute.

The most disappointing thing to me is the offensive skill. I went back and watched that Ohio State game several times, getting ready for, like, Big Ten Network and all. The wide receivers weren't getting open. So you can blame, you know, quarterbacks get far too much blame and get far too much credit. The common denominator of every great quarterback out there is great receivers. And I just, if I was Sark and I'd be like all over those guys,

say, what in the world? You know, and I haven't studied the U-TEP game and all that, but I did the Ohio State game, and it's not like there were guys really open that he was missing. Oh, that's, that is concerning because you're talking about five stars that everybody talks about, Ryan Wingo, that, you know, he's not Jeremiah Smith, he's not Ryan Williams, but he's not far behind those guys. And if it's not happening right now, on that end of the equation, I'm going to have to watch that closer and get, and see if that's not a real part of the concern.

By the way, back to the Big Ten, Dante Moore is an example of that, right, at Oregon. It just took him a minute. It's taken him a while at UCLA and now at Oregon. And he seems like he's a really good player. So let's use that path of Dante Moore, maybe Arch Manning. And let's now go to the final team of my turnaround question, and that is the Florida Gators.

I went down the scale, I think, you know, asking you about Florida State, then USC, both of which you believe is real. It seems to be going the other direction for Florida, and there is a debate that people are having about how long will Billy Napier have because now the schedule gets really tough. I think the next three games are against top 10 opponents. You've got Miami.

You've got Texas. And DJ Lagway, who last year everybody loved, doesn't look good. Yeah, I understand DJ, they kind of kept it under wraps, was hurt most of the offseason. and I think it's still undisclosed what it was. And, you know, Florida would have played the Penn State schedule right now. Everybody would be saying, boy, look how good everybody looks. They haven't. You know, they got hit right in the face early.

They lost South Florida, which is not, you know, is a much better team, but obviously it's not a blue blood. But then they had some tough ones. LSU and Miami, those are rugged, rugged teams and rugged games. And it's not going to get easier. I'm worried about Florida. I'm a Florida fan. I thought their coach did a great job last year, rallying because I thought it was over last year.

But you wake up every day in Gainesville, Florida, and even after when, you walk in that office and you just feel the immense pressure. Because, first of all, when they say Florida's playing a tough schedule, yeah, I know, they always do. You know, you have Florida State as your soft, it's not a softie. Florida State's usually a top 10 program. And then you play Miami, and then your crossover game back in East West days was LSU. So I'd always be like, my God, when does this stop? I'm looking at these other teams who they're playing, but you can't. So Florida, I'm worried.

And their defense is playing hard. DJ lightweight does not look good. And the offense looks like they're in the universe sometimes. Okay, I want to ask you just a couple more minutes with Coach Urban Meyer here, about two guys that are definitely having a rough year, one of which has already been done. But I think there's a tie that binds these things. two guys. And that's Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State and Davos winning at Clemson. And the thing that

sort of ties these guys together, at least popularly, coach, and you can disavow me of this if it's wrong, is that they've been around at their programs for a long time and they did things a certain way. And they did them well. Obviously, Davos won multiple national championships. And I think it's fair to say that Oklahoma State overperformed really for what they've been historically and probably the resources they have on hand with Mike Gundy at the helm for all these years. But the whole business changes and it moves on. And I don't know if it moved on past Mike Gundy, but he's now out at Oklahoma State. And everybody knows that Dabo was slow to get in on transfers. I definitely know they're doing NIL and that type of thing. And you can see it changing. He's now starting

to look for transfers and bringing in transfers. But I don't know how late he is to the game. And there's no doubt that Clemson, I mean, we were talking, everybody was talking about national championship potential. And what is Clemson? One and three right now? Is that what they are? It's terrible. It's not at all what anybody thought would be the year at Clemson.

Yeah, Davo and I know, we know each other for many, many years. And I talked to them before the season, and he said this is a national championship caliber, talented team. And I coached against him when he had a couple of those teams. And, I mean, I remember their defense line. in one year. They had all first round draft picks, the entire front. And they, you know, we just couldn't move the ball against them. So I'm a little shocked. Obviously, their quarterback was a Heisman frontrunner and he's been struggling. I would pump the brakes on saying that

this is the catastrophe, because I don't believe it is. I think they're not what they thought they would be, but he's got, you know, he's a good coach, obviously, and he's got a good staff. I think at the end of the year, he'll finish with the eight or nine win season and have to regroup for next year. The other one, Mike Gundy, I don't know him that well, but I've always respected him. I thought, you know, I used to laugh like everybody at some of us, you know, whether it be the long hair or whether he'd say stuff in the media. And he was having fun with it. And I always thought to myself, I was almost jealous of him because I wanted to be him. You know, I always felt like I coached the places where every day was fourth and one. You know, every,

I mean, every recruit every day and it just worry out health-wise. And I looked at Mike Gundy and he He's like, I don't give a damn. I just, I'm having fun out here. So that wore out, you know, I hope he goes, gets a lake house and enjoys life like I do because he deserves that. People are telling me he wants to go coach again. I don't know him that well enough, but if I would, I'd call him, say, hey, man, you know, go and go get your handicap down a little bit,

enjoy your kids or grandkids if you got them and get away from that mess. But I don't know. Oh, so, so coach, I joked with you before we're on here. So Cody Campbell pulls out his billion dollars and says, I really want a national championship level coach. I really want an Urban Meyer or Nick Saban if it doesn't work out. And Joey McGuire is doing a great job at Texas Tech. And I think Texas Tech is on its way.

But you enjoy the lake house more than the potential in Lubbock? I got an ocean house. I think you saw it. I got an ocean house. I don't have laid. That's true. That's true. I certainly enjoy that.

Joey McGuire, by the way, is one of my favorite. I mean, he's been on our podcast at least twice. I spent time with him last week in Utah. I mean, that guy, that guy just makes you feel good when you around him. I think he's locked. You don't have to worry about your coach at Texas Tech. You got one. Yeah.

Okay, last thing, coach, not only you plugged in from your years in college football, but now with Big Noon kickoff and triple option, You just know guys all across the land. And I don't know who makes these kind of hires anymore. It's not, well, the University of Texas hired a guy who was at one time a head coach, then an offensive coordinator, a consultant in Alabama. I'm always curious about that guy out there who may be an offensive coordinator, maybe a defensive coordinator, maybe somewhere who maybe is ready for that next leap.

Not, you know, who's going to hire Mike Gundy if he wants to coach him, but who's going to hire the guy that no one's really paying attention to that maybe is the next big head coach, who's really talented. And back to the start of our conversation, that's probably pretty hard to vet in that you're not looking at the offensive coordinator who's a genius at the X&O's. You're actually looking for leadership characteristics who can delegate, who can still recruit, but who can be a corporate CEO to your point. Who would you say is kind of under the radar for whatever that program is? I do think it's a mid-level program, right? Because your Blue Bloods don't, they buy known quantities, it feels like, more than they do the diamond in the rough.

But who you really love out there that people aren't paying attention to? The UNLV, Dan Mullen, is 4-0 at, you know, the former Gator coach who was with me for eight or nine, 10 years as an assistant. His offense coordinator is Corey Dennis, is a guy that was with me in Ohio State. and, you know, they're scoring a lot of points. And by the way, he's my son-in-law, so he's number one. Number two is Brian Hartline. The receiver coach at Ohio State is the best recruiter, I think, in modern history, the way he's recruited, you know, his first-rounder after first-rounder after first-rounder

from, you know, he goes from the Marvin Harrison, Jr. to Jeremiah Smith. and, you know, it's shocking how good he is. So those are two names. I don't, obviously, I'm going to miss a lot because I don't follow it that closely. But that's a great question, Will, because it's fun to watch who's coming, who's rising to the top. How's it going with Portnoy? You guys getting along all right? You know, he's doing his Michigan thing.

You're doing your Ohio State thing. But you like Dave? Well, I'm not, I just don't follow much on the Internet and all that. So I actually didn't know who he was. I heard the name and I heard Barstool. And the guy's great. behind the scenes, him and his, you know, Big Cat and his staff, we had dinner a couple of times, and my wife, Shelly, was with me, and we're like, man, these guys are great, and that also he gets on stage.

And, you know, it's just, you know, how state sucks, and I'm like, wow, you know, where'd this come from? So he's been great. I get the, you know, I get the young people staring at their phones, and we have to move, you know, Big Noon has to move with the times that we are. So I'm embracing it. You know, we got to go to Ann Arbor next week, and I've got to put up with all that nonsense, but it's all part of the job. And it's a fun part. Well, you're doing a great job. Big New Kickoff is doing incredibly well. And I'm excited for you with the Triple Option Show as well. Everybody should check that out with Rob Stone and Mark Ingram. It's Coach Urban Meyer. I've enjoyed this

time. I enjoy our friendship. Thank you, Coach. Let's do it again, brother. Good seeing you. Love to have you as often as you are available. Okay, we'll see you, coach. See you. There you go. I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Coach Urban Meyer. Remember to check him out at the Triple Option Show and on Saturday mornings with Big Noon kickoff. We hope you will. Make sure you follow us on Spotify or Apple, and we will see you again next time. Listen to ad-free with a Fox News podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. And Amazon Prime members, you can listen to this show, ad-free on the Amazon Music app. Thank you.