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Urban Meyer wasn’t very happy when Nick Saban attempted to poach his assistant coaches
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Apparently the Urban Meyer-Nick Saban rivalry extended past the football field. It seems to have spilled over into staff decisions, as well.
In what was a 2,000-page dump of emails and text messages involving Urban Meyer as it pertained to the investigation involving Zach Smith, some of the content was pretty intriguing. Among those items was a profanity-laced message Meyer sent after Saban tried to hire away some Ohio State assistants.
Particularly, it seems that Alex Grinch, Greg Schiano and Smith all received offers to join Alabama’s staff. All three turned down the supposed opportunities in Tuscaloosa.
In a message sent on Jan. 21, 2018, Meyer writes, “Vrabel offered Ryan day off Coord job. Going after him real hard. This (expletive) never stops. Will update. Zach smith was offered wr/passing game Coord at Alabama. Went there to talk to Saban. At first thought maybe he should go then decided that all effort I’ve put u to him and it’s Alabama. I told him to stay and he turned it down. Every f–––– day it’s something. Thx”
USA TODAY’s Dan Wolken posted screenshots of some of the messages.
In another message, Meyer appears to be urging one of the assistants to stay on staff at Ohio State:
During Alabama’s media day on Saturday, Saban admitted to interviewing Smith for a job. He denies, however, offering Smith the job after doing a background check.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB