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Urban Meyer Dismisses Report About Interest in Penn State Job

The former Ohio State coach and FOX Sports analyst has been tied loosely to Penn State's opening.
Mark Wogenrich|
Former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer on the sideline during the first half of a game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Oregon Ducks at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium.
Former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer on the sideline during the first half of a game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Oregon Ducks at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Urban Meyer dismissed reporting that he had conversations about the Penn State coaching vacancy, specifically regarding the program's NIL funding, on the latest episode of his podcast The Triple Option. The former Ohio State coach and current FOX analyst said "that never happened" regarding a report that he discussed the job and NIL situation with Penn State officials.

"The source says that I had conversations with Penn State about the NIL, and I didn’t know how to handle the NIL or something. Come on, that never happened," Meyer said on this week's edition of The Triple Option podcast.

Meyer's name has been tied loosely to Penn State's vacancy since James Franklin was fired Oct. 12. The speculation regarding Meyer grew in late October, when Senator Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) posted a photo of himself with Meyer on social media.

McCormick wrote that he and Meyer had a "great conversation" over breakfast in Washington, D.C., "about leadership, teamwork, and serving something bigger than yourself." Triple Option podcast host Rob Stone said that the photo prompted suggestions that their meeting also included a chat about the Penn State coaching job.

"Some people decided to do some fuzzy math," Stone said. "They said, coach met with a Pennsylvania Senator, so 1+1 equals you're the next head coach of the Nittany Lions."

Meyer chuckled and said he "talked politics" with McCormick during their breakfast meeting at the Capitol. Meyer then tied reporting from Audacy's Zach Gelb into the conversation.

Gelb recently reported that Meyer had conversations with Penn State officials about the coaching vacancy but is "not going to be the next Penn State head coach." Gelb reported that sources told him that Meyer "had a great interest level" in the job, but the talks ended quickly.

"The reason why those talks did break down is, when they got to the topic of NIL, which Urban Meyer has never been a head coach during the NIL era, his plan and his answers in terms of navigating those name, image, and likeness waters were not viewed satisfactory enough," Gelb said on Oct. 31. "And that’s ultimately why Penn State is not going to view Urban Meyer as a fit for their program."

Meyer dismissed that part of Gelb's report on his podcast, saying “Who is the guy again?"

"How do we get the two sources on our show here?" Meyer asked, "Just cracks me up." Gelb responded with a post standing by his initial reporting.

Meyer last coached college football in 2018 at Ohio State, when the Buckeyes went 13-1 but were not selected for the College Football Playoff. Meyer announced his retirement before the Rose Bowl, and Ohio State promoted Ryan Day to head coach.

Meyer returned to coaching in 2021 with the Jacksonville Jaguars, who fired him after 13 games. The Jaguars went 2-11 under Meyer, who faced allegations of bullying and kicking a player during practice.

Meyer resumed his broadcasting career at FOX after his time in Jacksonville. This year, he has discussed the Penn State job multiple times, including where it ranks among current college football openings.

Meyer recently said that the Penn State job ranked behind those at Florida and LSU, which also are open. He made the comparison before Auburn fired Hugh Freeze, adding another high-profile coaching job to the 2025 carousel.

"They're all three blue-blood programs, they're all three that have national championship expectations," Meyer said on a recent edition of The Herd with Colin Cowherd. "But to asnwer your question, the one that stands out to me, and you can say I'm somewhat biased, is Florida.

"... Florida and LSU to me are right there, and it's all about recruiting base. The problem with Penn State [is], Penn State has the same problem Notre Dame does. You have to go recruit the world. You can't put [it in] a little footprint."

Penn State hosts second-ranked Indiana on Saturday at Beaver Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for noon ET on FOX.

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is the editor and publisher of Penn State on SI, the site for Nittany Lions sports on the Sports Illustrated network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs, three Rose Bowls and one College Football Playoff appearance.

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