SmashMouth

Four hours after he first began a dizzying circuit of interviews here Wednesday at Big Ten Media Day, Urban Meyer sat down at a quiet table on a high floor of the Chicago Hilton and reflected on the day's events.
Despite coming off of an undefeated season, despite being the coach of a national championship contender and a Heisman-contending quarterback, he knew he'd be asked very few questions about actual football. Not after barely addressing his former Florida star Aaron Hernandez's murder charge over the past month. And certainly not after a weekend that ended with four of his current Ohio State players -- including stars Carlos Hyde and Brady Roby -- either suspended or dismissed for various transgressions.
Sure enough, in a main ballroom filled with hundreds of reporters, Meyer fielded 12 questions in 15 minutes. Nine of them were about player discipline and off-field issues.
"I was expecting it. I gave it some thought," Meyer said afterward. "The older you get, I don't want to be so defensive. There were some mistakes, and there were some things you would have done better. And you're talking about some serious stuff. I just wanted to make sure and take a very humanistic approach to the whole situation."
At one point Wednesday someone asked, "When it comes to off-the-field issues and player discipline, how do you view your own reputation?"
"How do I view my own reputation? " said Meyer. "I don't view my own reputation. I guess a reputation is what others think of you."
Well, we know what others think of him. They've made it abundantly clear these past few weeks. He is, according to various voices, "all that is wrong with college football," and "the 'fakest' major coach in college football" with a "shameful disciplinary record." The reported 31 player arrests during his six seasons at Florida were no secret at the time, but were dredged back up when the Hernandez scandal broke. And now that a few members of his current team are in trouble ...
"I'm disappointed," Meyer said of last weekend's developments. "... To have a couple of knuckleheads make some decisions that reflect the entire program, that's not ‑‑ I guess it's part of the deal. It's something that bothers me, bothers our staff, and we work very hard to avoid with our players."
Meyer is hardly the only college coach to have players get in trouble, but he's certainly become the most criticized. Why is that exactly?
"I have no idea," he said later. "I've been asked that many times. People say its because we won a lot of games. They say it's because I'm very standoffish with the media. But I'm not sure."
Those theories are probably correct, though not the full answer. If anything, much of Meyer's negative persona dates to statements from the past that came back to haunt him. One is the infamous booster-club claim circa 2005 or '06 that he would only pursue "the top one percent of the top one percent" of recruits at Florida. Though Meyer claims now he was referring to a mix of football talent, academics and characters, over the years it's been construed to mean he would only let choirboys play for him. That obviously was not the case. And now every subsequent arrest or suspension only embellishes his perceived hypocrisy.


Read More: Criticized by the masses, Urban Meyer addresses player discipline - College Football - Stewart Mandel - SI.com

SloMotion

He may not be the only college coach to have players get in trouble, but trouble sure seems to permeate any program he's involved with. He's a winner and a helluva' coach, maybe just not that concerned with mentoring or developing an individual player's character? That's why they give him a hard time, .

QBREES9

Win first !

homerj07

He is a cheater.

If all coaches were like him. They would have winning programs too.

He was an ass in Florida he will be an even bigger ass in Ohio.

QBREES9

He wins. But he an Ass

SloMotion

He will rule the Big Ten at Ohio State, I'm afraid ... <sigh>.

papz

While the SEC racks up National Championships, he can win all the Big Crappy titles he wants.

SloMotion

Oh yeah, the Big Two/Little Eight as I affectionally knew it growing up ... my only defense in the great Big 10/SEC debate is that Michigan does currently enjoy a winning bowl record (2-1) vs SEC National Champ Alabama though, , .

QBREES9

He will.

Mardigras9

Happy to see he has learned how to live life after Tebow. Didn't know if he would ever pull through.
Agree with Qbrees, he's an Ass.