Ladies and Gentlemen of the Gator Nation. I submit the following defense in support of the defendant, Urban Frank Meyer III. Heretofore, I submit that the defendant, hereby referred to as "Urban Meyer", is charged with the following (with my statements in his defense):
- Charge 1. Urban Meyer is "a liar".
The defense pleads not guilty. The defense assert that his so-called lies fall into two categories--statements he made in desperation about his health as he was in over his head, and statements that were no misleading than any other coach's "coach speak". The defense asserts that the pressures of coaching at a major program such as Florida affected his health, and he "over-diagnosed" himself with "esophageal spasms" to the point where he could use the self-induced medical condition as a way out. Maybe his medical condition was overblown, but it was not a lie.
The defense also asserts that his other misleading statements were commensurate with typical coach speak, that certain players may have been labeled as "injured" when in fact they may have been "under the influence of marijuana". The defense accepts that covering up drug habits is wrong under the bylaws of the NCAA, but to single out Urban Meyer's transgressions apart from those of other coaches would not be proper, nor germain to the charges of his being a liar.
- Charge 2. Urban Meyer lost control of the program.
The defense pleads guilty. Most coaches seem to lose control at some point, even the venerable Joe Paterno. The loss of control manifests itself in different ways for different coaches. Charley Pell and Galen Hall lost control and handled it in such a way that only someone like Steve Spurrier could have salvaged the program. Steve Spurrier lost control to a much lesser degree, and suffered his own form of burnout that he dealt with by going to the NFL. Ron Zook lost control to a lesser degree and was fired. Looking around at the major programs, coaches that stick around for more than 6 years tend to lose control to the point that they get the school on NCAA probation. Those that lose control in under 6 years make room for a new coach. That new coach is about 50/50 in terms of success rate. The defense asks that the court take leniency on Urban Meyer in light of his health issues, his 9-month break from coaching, and his apparent return to health. The defense also requests that the court consider leniency on the basis of his two national championships and 81% win-loss record while at the University of Florida.
- Charge 3. Urban Meyer ran the program into the ground.
The defense pleads not guilty. The defense asserts that Urban Meyer did not willfully run the program into the ground and bail. I will say that he got in over his head and inadvertently caused some harm to the program that his successor will have to fix. This is a common tale for coaches. Urban Meyer is good at short stints with a program. He can bring short term success to just about any program--and he has done so at every level. I would even say he is better at that than Steve Spurrier, who was successful at Duke and Florida (obviously) compared to Meyer's success at Bowling Green, Utah, and Florida. I think this hints at an issue that affects most of the NCAA--coaches only have a limited shelf life with a program before they should move to a new job. It takes an extraordinary coach to stick at one program for a long time without losing control to the point where they inadvertently "run a program to the ground". Urban Meyer did leave the program with one of the top rated recruiting classes, a class that forms the core of the 2011 and 2012 teams. The defendant did leave the program in such a state that his successor was able to avoid a losing season, which is historic in that the program has one of the longest stints without a losing season.
- Charge 4. Urban Meyer's track record with player arrests is a sign of his lack of skill and leadership.
The defense pleads not guilty. We forget that these are kids that represent the average college student, whether or not they are scholarship athletes. They get in trouble, they do stupid things. To exacerbate the problem, Gainesville and Alachua County authorities are less forgiving of college student stupidity than, say, Miami and Hialeah County or Tuscaloosa (AL) and Tuscaloosa County. Penn State's program is lauded as one of the most successful, and cleanest programs, with the exception of the Jerry Sandusky incidents. Despite the appearance of cleanliness and leadership, evidence does show that Penn State had a high number of arrests in later years that coincided with the Sandusky incidents. The defense asks that the court consider the lack of NCAA sanctions and national attention for major transgressions when considering Urban Meyer's leadership and control of the program.
- Charge 5. Urban Meyer is a bad coach--he only succeeded because of Tim Tebow, Dan Mullen, or {insert name here}.
The defense pleads not guilty. He succeeded at Bowling Green and Utah without Tim Tebow. NFL coaches like Bill Belichik asked him for advice on the spread option offense, not Dan Mullen. Urban Meyer is a strategic coach, not a tactical coach. He needs tacticians to succeed, just as most coaches need. Urban Frank Meyer III is one of the greatest offensive minds of the modern era. ESPN listed him amongst the top offensive minds in college football. Only Nick Saban can match his success in the modern era of football with an 81% winning record and two national championships. His employer, Jeremy Foley, even kept a $1M retainer for Urban Meyer's services after the resignation, out of respect for time served. The defense submits Jeremy Foley's retainer fee as exhibit A.
- Charge 6. Urban Meyer's spread offense was a gimmick that only thrived because of Tim Tebow.
The defense pleads not guilty. Again, see his success at Bowling Green and Utah. He needed the right mix of personnel, which he did have in 2006 and 2008. He tried to adapt his spread option offense as defenses adapted to his zone read, with bad results. He may have more success at tOSU after using his ESPN analyst time to analyze Oregon, Utah, Michigan, Texas, and the like to gain ideas on integrating spread offense, zone read, and pro style better than he did in 2009 and 2010. The defense submits to the court Urban Meyer's new job at the Ohio State University and requests that final judgement be reserved until the defendant has served a few years as head coach of tOSU. The defense believes that he will be successful in his new job, and that the Gator Nation should wish nothing but the best for the former Gator coach.
In closing...
I submit to the court that the defendant, Urban Frank Meyer III, has been unduly charged on the basis of emotional backlash stemming from his questionable departure from the University of Florida. The defense would like to submit that much of the hatred and vitriol stems from misunderstanding of the circumstances surrounding the latter part of Urban Meyer's tenure. Urban Meyer resurrected the University of Florida football program, won almost 2/3 of his games, won 90% of the games against bitter rivals, gave us Tim Tebow, re-established the Florida Gator brand, and has not uttered any negative remarks about the program other than the arguable statement of a "broken program" in public, and "questionable locker room" to an Ohio State recruit. The defense submits that the defendant is worthy of our respect as a fellow Gator and deserves a spot amongst the Gator Greats. The defense requests leniency on charge #2, loss of control, and requests all other charges be dropped on the basis of this testimony.
