An old acquaintance steps into Urban Meyer’s office and the first question out of the coach’s mouth is “How much time do you need?”
Meyer is obsessed with the minutes and seconds that make up a day.
“I’m an organizational freak,” he concedes. “Every second is accounted for. And every second away from football is with my kids.”
That’s not as many seconds as he would like. When Meyer said good night to his two daughters and son Sunday night, it was the first time he had seen them in three days.
But Meyer, whose career as an assistant began at Ohio State and ended at Notre Dame before he accepted the head coaching position at Bowling Green in 2001, knows no other way. Losing seconds means losing preparation time. And losing preparation time is, well, unthinkable for the coach of Utah, ranked No. 7 in the nation in the Associated Press media poll.
“Some people fear losing,” Meyer says. “I don’t. If they’re better than us and they play better, they’re going to win. But if we fail because we didn’t see a certain thing in practice or because we missed something on film, then that’s what drives everybody here.
“We don’t use the words `fortunate’ or `luck.’ If you really believe that, then why work?”
Meyer has to be fanatical about preparation because his team has zero margin for error. OK, that’s not entirely true. The Utes could show up at halftime and still beat some of their Mountain West opponents.
But if they do lose, all their dreams die. They no longer have a chance to crash the BCS party.
Utah needs to finish in the top six of the BCS standings to be guaranteed a spot in one of the sport’s most lucrative and prized bowls. After winning all eight of its games by at least 14 points, Utah is sixth in the standings, a little behind undefeated Wisconsin and a hair in front of once-beaten Texas.
But four one-loss teams (Texas, Tennessee, Georgia and Michigan) are gaining on Utah because of their reputations and tougher schedules. So even with an 11-0 season, Utah might end up in the Liberty Bowl.
Meyer usually counts to 10 before saying anything about the BCS, but on this day he’s ready to cut loose.
“It’s a failed system,” he says. “I think it has to go to a playoff, but I don’t know it well enough. Give me three months and let me prepare and I could come up with something.”
It’s not that Meyer dislikes bowl games. What he hates is the way the teams are selected. He calls the conference tie-ins “garbage.”
In his first year as a head coach, Meyer coaxed Bowling Green into a six-victory improvement. But at 8-3, his Falcons were not invited to a bowl.
The next season they went 9-3, 6-2 in the Mid-American Conference, and were home for Christmas.
“My kids at Bowling Green, if you told them they’d have to walk down the freeway 27 hours [to get to a bowl game], they would have done it,” Meyer says. “To have the seventh-place Big Ten team [go instead]? Why?
“I’m not a big fan of conference commissioners, I’m not a big fan of university presidents, I’m not a big fan of sponsorship. I am a big fan of the student-athlete.”
When Meyer was coaching wide receivers at Notre Dame in 1997, he recalls, “there wasn’t one player, one coach, one fan, anyone” who wanted to play in the Independence Bowl. But the Irish still went and got spanked by LSU 27-9.
Last year Northern Illinois was 7-0 and ranked 12th after victories over Maryland, Alabama and Iowa State. But after late-season losses to Bowling Green and Toledo, the Huskies’ season ended without a bowl.
“That’s what makes me so sick,” Meyer says. “As a coach, I can tell you that Northern Illinois is better than the BCS [teams]. I played against them.”
Meyer won’t come out and say his Utes are as good as the nation’s top five teams. He doesn’t need to. The statistical and anecdotal evidence is on his side.
It’s not just that Utah has the nation’s No. 2 scoring offense (behind Boise State) and No. 2 total offense (behind Louisville). Or that the Utes have scored 40 or more points in six of their games.
Simply look at the common opponents.
Utah beat North Carolina 46-16. Two weeks later the Tar Heels beat undefeated Miami.
Utah destroyed Arizona 23-6. Wisconsin needed a missed Arizona field goal with seconds remaining to win 9-7.
Utah crushed San Diego State 51-28 on Saturday, with quarterback Alex Smith firing five touchdown passes on the road. Michigan beat San Diego State 24-21 at home.
“I have seen USC, Cal, Wisconsin twice and Miami twice,” ESPN analyst Lee Corso said Saturday. “This [Utah] football team can play with any one of those teams on any day of the week.”
Ask Meyer whether his team belongs with the elite and he replies, “There are a lot of things that point in that direction, but I don’t know that.”
What Meyer, 40, also doesn’t know is how long he will remain at Utah, a commuter school of 28,000 students at the base of the Wasatch Mountains minutes from downtown Salt Lake City and, before this year, better known as a basketball school.
The Sporting News named him National Coach of the Year in 2003 after the Utes finished 10-2 with a 17-0 victory over Southern Miss in the Liberty Bowl. This year Meyer has one-upped himself and become the hottest coaching commodity in the business.
After last season Utah officials reworked his contract, raising his salary to $500,000 and cutting his buyout in half, to $250,000. The school also agreed to build an indoor practice facility. A provision in the deal allows Meyer to leave for Notre Dame, Ohio State or Michigan without penalty.
Meyer, an Ohio native who played defensive back at Cincinnati, also can change one of the three schools but said he isn’t sure when.
The man who helped Meyer rework his deal is Texas A & M coach Dennis Franchione.
“He’s the best in terms of taking care of his family,” Meyer says. “I could live right in this office and be happy. But I have three kids and a wife, and for putting up with me, they deserve the best.”
On the day Florida fired Ron Zook, reports had Meyer becoming a top candidate to replace him, in part because school President Bernie Machen had the same post at Utah this time last year.
Asked what factors he would weigh after the season, Meyer points to a framed photo of his wife, Shelley.
“I don’t make those kinds of decisions,” he says. “She’s the one who made the decision to come here. At midnight we turned it down, then we talked for three hours. She’s a brilliant lady. She thinks about [our] kids, attendance.”
Meyer left Bowling Green after just two years in part because of the paltry crowd that showed up for a 2002 Senior Day victory over Eastern Michigan.
“It’s the most successful senior class at Bowling Green, and I’m looking at the [players’] faces and there are 5,000 people there,” Meyer says. “You can’t build on that. Here, every seat’s filled.”
If and when Meyer leaves Utah, he is likely to go to a school where he can win immediately. He takes losing so hard it practically cripples him.
“My bodily functions don’t function,” he says.
Says Smith, the Utes’ heralded quarterback: “I don’t think he would just leave us to go to any program. It would have to be special circumstances. I’m sure he has coaching goals, especially in the Midwest. You can’t fault him for things like that.”
Safety Erik Weddle says he would not begrudge Meyer for leaving.
“I know Utah is not a big-time school,” Weddle says. “We all know that. His goals are probably to be a contender every year or go to the Big Ten or maybe the NFL. If he leaves I’ll be happy for him and wish him the best of luck. He’s an awesome coach and we’re grateful for what he did for us.
“But I also know his family loves it here.”
Bowl Championship Spoilers
If Utah remains in the top six in the final BCS standings released on Dec. 5, it will be guaranteed a BCS bid–and a multimillion-dollar payout. A top-12 finish makes it eligible. A look at the challenges facing No. 6 Utes and three one-loss teams closing in.
BCS RANK: 6
TEAM: Utah (8-0)
BIGGEST BATTLES: Nov. 13 at Wyoming (5-3)
Nov. 20 vs. BYU (4-4)
BCS RANK: 7
TEAM: Texas (7-1)
BIGGEST BATTLES: Nov. 6 vs. Okla. St. (6-2)
Nov. 20 vs. Texas A&M (6-2)
BCS RANK: 8
TEAM: Tenn. (7-1)
BIGGEST BATTLES: Nov. 6 vs. Notre Dame (5-3)
(also possible SEC title game)
BCS RANK: 9
TEAM: Georgia (7-1)
BIGGEST BATTLES: Nov. 13 at Auburn (8-0)
(also possible SEC title game)
Sizing up the Utes
At a glance
Conference: Mountain West.
Location: Salt Lake City.
Founded: 1850.
Enrollment: 28,437.
Colors: Crimson and white.
Stadium: Rice-Eccles (45,634 capacity).
Coach: Urban Meyer, 18-2 in second year; 35-8 overall in four years (17-6 at Bowling Green, Ohio).
History lesson: First game played in 1892. All-time record 553-403-31, including 6-4 in bowls.
Schedule, results
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D OPPONENT RES.
S2 vs. Texas A&M W 41-21
S11 at Arizona W 23-6
S18 at Utah State W 48-6
S25 vs. Air Force W 49-35
O1 at New Mexico W 28-7
O16 vs. N. Carolina W 46-16
O23 vs. UNLV W 63-28
O30 at San Diego St. W 51-28
N6 vs. Colorado St. 8:45 p.m.
N13 at Wyoming 6 p.m.
N20 vs. BYU TBA
By the numbers
RK–national rank among 117 I-A teams
CATEGORY AVG RK
Rushing offense 231.8 12
Passing offense 264.5 19
Total offense 496.3 2
Scoring offense 43.6 2
Rushing defense 153.3 65
Passing defense 187.9 29
Total defense 341.2 45
Scoring defense 18.4 27
Source: NCAA.
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