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Urban Meyer on College GameDay: ‘I don’t believe I’ll coach football again’
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Urban Meyer will coach his final game with Ohio State — and quite possibly the last game of his career — against Washington on New Year’s Day.
On Saturday morning, Meyer sat down with College GameDay’s Chris Fowler for a brief segment to explain the difficult decision to step down from his dream job and main passion in life, citing ongoing health issues as the catalyst.
“I’ve dealt with some significant issues this year, really since 2014,” Meyer said. “When the word risk comes out of the doctor’s mouth, that checks your whole heart a little bit. And I asked the question, ‘what exactly is a risk?’ and (he said), ‘We’re not sure, coach.’”
An arachnoid cyst has plagued Meyer over the years, but became too much for him in 2018.
Per the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokem, arachnoid cysts are cerebrospinal fluid covered by arachnoidal cells and collagen that may develop between the surface of the brain and the cranial base or on the arachnoid membrane, one of the three meningeal layers that cover the brain and the spinal cord. Some of the more serious symptoms include severe neurological damage or bleeding into the cyst injures the brain or spinal cord.
“I believe this is it,” Meyer said. “Once again, that’s between myself and my family, but I don’t believe I’ll coach football again. I feel like I am leaving on my own terms.
“I’ve been a Buckeye since I’ve been this big. I love this area. My dream was to hand it off to someone who I think is not only great but I think he’ll make us stronger.”
The entire segment will be aired prior to kickoff on ESPN.
Tyler has covered college football on a freelance basis since 2010. In addition to Saturday Football, his work has been featured on ESPN Radio, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, Cox Media Group, Athlon Sports, and more.