Urban Meyer is renowned for his intensity. Known for his meticulous preparation, rigorous demands on his players, and unwavering drive to secure victories, he has built a formidable reputation.
Such dedication has brought him remarkable success, including three national championships with two different teams and an impressive 187 career wins, earning him a permanent place in the College Football Hall of Fame.
It’s no wonder then that Meyer brings the same level of seriousness to his golf game. “I’ll play over 100 rounds this year,” he reveals to the Daily Mail following the opening day of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. His determination knows no bounds.
At Lake Nona in Florida, Meyer joins a host of celebrities and top LPGA Tour players at this season’s inaugural event, which offers a $500,000 prize pool for the notable amateurs in attendance.
After the initial day of play, tennis legend Mardy Fish was in the lead, with baseball star Aaron Hicks and hockey icon Joe Pavelski—last year’s champion—close behind. Meyer found himself in 33rd place.
Even though he ranks lower on the leaderboard, Meyer seems more relaxed now that his coaching days are over. He engages with fans between holes, signing autographs and taking photos.
Urban Meyer spoke to the Daily Mail in Orlando shortly after his first round (pictured)
Alongside Dave Portnoy (left), Meyer is one of the stars of Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff panel
Nowadays he deals in opinions, not wins. Sure, there’s a pressure to ensure his TV ratings are climbing on Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff, and it’d be nice to overtake rival ESPN’s College GameDay, but this is nothing like the cauldron he faced on the sideline at Florida or Ohio State.
‘We do take it real serious,’ he explains of his TV role. ‘I think most people would tell you that when you’re done playing, or you’re done coaching, to be able to be part of a team, and to go try to compete with the other shows, it’s great.
‘We can’t wait to be around each other, we want to be great at our job, and we had a great year.’
Last season’s arrival of Dave Portnoy to the Fox analyst team was a fiery one. An Ohio State legend pitting himself against a true Michigan Man on a weekly basis, on live TV, in front of millions.
On the sideline during his coaching career, Meyer easily had the better of the Wolverines, never losing The Game and leaving with a 7-0 record.
It’s more of an even playing field between Meyer and Portnoy in their war of words. On screen, Portnoy is a firebrand. He speaks in headlines, ever controversial in his opinions and passionately insistent that he’s never wrong.
Bill Belichick is not going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer after missing out on enough votes
Meyer (left) is one of the great college football coaches, having won three championships
But how about away from the cameras, when they walk off set. Do these traditional rivals get on?
‘Behind the scenes, he’s fantastic,’ Meyer explains. ‘We’ve become friends, we go to dinner together. My wife gets along great with him. And then he gets on TV and he’s a nut job!
‘But it’s different away from the TV. He’s a businessman, you know, and I get it. I didn’t really understand it, but now I get it. And he’s become a friend.’
Speaking of friends, Portnoy and Meyer share another: the legendary Bill Belichick.
This week, Belichick’s name has been in the headlines after his shocking snub from the Pro Football Hall of Fame, falling short of the votes needed to get him in on his first ballot.
That’s despite eight Super Bowl wins – six as head coach of the New England Patriots and two as DC of the Giants – and the second most wins in NFL history, only behind Don Shula.
Mike Vrabel was Meyer’s linebackers coach at Ohio State for two seasons in 2012 and 2013
Meyer is now a College Football Hall of Famer, and was inducted in Columbus last November
‘If he’s not a first ballot Hall of Famer, I’m not sure who is?’ Meyer insists. ‘I don’t know what’s gone on behind the scenes, but all I can say is, if he’s not a first-ballot, then no-one is.’
The past 12 months has seen Belichick flip from the NFL to the college game, taking charge of the University of North Carolina, and therefore taking the opposite route to Meyer, who went from a long career in college to one ill-fated NFL season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
‘It’s night and day,’ Meyer explains of the difference between the two. ‘But I watched his team early, and I watched his team late… when I watched them early, they weren’t good. They were bad.
‘When I watched them late, they got a lot better. And I would anticipate that this next year will be better… he’s too good a coach. I know he’s made some staff changes. It’s all about, can you get the players there? Because they’ll continue to improve in the coaching area.’
One big name on Meyer’s own coaching tree is Mike Vrabel, current head coach of the Super Bowl-bound New England Patriots.
Fresh from his own playing career, and then just 37 years old, he was hired as Meyer’s defensive line coach when he took over at Ohio State.
Vrabel previously told a story about how Meyer had failed to recognize him during a game
Meyer (left) speaks to Belichick; he revealed he was astonished he missed out on the HOF
There are plenty of stories from those years – ‘many that we don’t have time for’ – but it was clear to Meyer even back then that his star was only going to rise.
‘I watched him play, I’m really good friends with Bill Belichick, and I would go and watch [the Patriots] practise. Then I hired him at Ohio State and now I just watch what he’s done. It’s historic, if he can win this last game. From 4-13 to Super Bowl champ!
‘I think sometimes the great players aren’t great coaches, because they don’t carry that same work ethic into coaching and the grind. I think what made Mike such a great player, for so many years, was the grind.
‘I obviously saw that firsthand and then he became a great coach… I love Mike. We talk once in a while and I have a lot of respect for him and his family. I love his family.’
The mention of a close relationship with the Patriots coach sparks the opportunity for Meyer to set the record straight about a viral moment on ESPN’s The Manningcast in 2024.
Meyer and his fellow celebrities are playing alongside the likes of Nelly Korda (right) in Florida
Appearing on screen during a Monday Night Football game, Vrabel told a story from his time as head coach of the Tennessee Titans, while Meyer was also in the league and in charge of the Jaguars.
He claimed that the pair bumped into each other and Meyer asked Vrabel if he knew him. ‘Yeah I’m the head coach of the Titans and I worked for you for two years’, came the reply.
So, did it really happen like that?
‘No, no… somebody told me that,’ he explains. ‘I don’t remember Mike Vrabel? I talk to Mike Vrabel all the time. So I don’t know if he was screwing around! I know who he is.’
