Urban Meyer has the Big 10 by the short hairs. However most of the coaches and ADs are on board with him regarding the gentleman's agreement. Hoke at Michigan has no problem with it, Alverez at Wisconsin doesn't seem to mind.

I think the author of the this story didn't do his due diligence when compiling his information.
Everything I read about Meyer tells me he will not take a back seat to anyone in recruiting.

That's all any fan can ask.

O$U wasn't trying to clean up their act when they got rid of Tressel and hired Meyer....they just wanted to continue winning at any cost....including their reputation and integrity.

http://collegefootballtalk.nbc...-comments/

Just a little more clarification on Meyer and the B10

@Sonny

"What I've seen the last five years is a complete turn in the integrity of the college coaching profession," Meyer said in a radio interview then. "It's completely turned the other way. Right now, it's not good because the risk-reward is 'have at it, do what you've got to do to get the great player, go win games and at the end of the day we'll find out what happens down the road.' "

The article wasn't about whether or not Meyer did anything illegal.

It is about Urban Meyer as a hypocritical liar.

Read Meyer's quote above and tell me the writer has come to an incorrect conclusion.

And yes, I believe pressuring a 17 yo kid to break his promise is absolutely immoral.

I don't care if it's illegal or not.

I see it as kill or be killed, the system of recruiting is flawed. The oral commitments are the root of the problem. These are 17 & 18 year old kids playing in a adult world. What would one expect.

Look up the video of Les Miles's rant about a QB reneging on his promise to LSU. It will make you sick

Urban Meyer is just following the law of the jungle

So the kids and their parents don't deserve some of the blame? Seems that their breaking their promises is at least as bad as Icky Meyer doing his part to flip them.

What cracks me up is that almost everyone rants and rails about what has happened to college sports, yet most of these same people fill the stadiums and plant themselves in front of the TV on fall Saturday afternoons.

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing illegal with what Meyer did. The practice of "flipping" recruits is commonplace in the SEC. However, the Big Ten supposedly has a gentlemen's agreement that coaches don't go after recruits who have verbally committed elsewhere.

Now, if only the Big Ten could get some 'gentleman' to coach and run their Universities all would be well in La La Land.

Urban Meyer is absolutely and unquestionably correct in his actions.

If the Big Ten or NCAA disagree, make a new Big Ten or NCAA rule.

"Gentleman's agreement"--in D-1 college athletics?

Give me a break.

written by NMR, February 04, 2012 - 04:53 PM
And yes, I believe pressuring a 17 yo kid to break his promise is absolutely immoral.

I don't care if it's illegal or not.

Unless he re-commits to the Nitters.

Right?

Penn State, in their current condition, will never be relevant again in the Big Ten with Urban's 'new rules of recruiting'.

He is not a hypocrite if you are just using that statement. "we'll find out what happens down the road" means an NCAA violation might have occurred, not that he just flipped a recruit. I don't like Myer though, he is a snake for taking a job less than a year after retiring. He just realized Florida was going to suck and got out.

Sorry, Sonny, the "well I only did it because he did" excuse never worked for me.

@neshanock

What was your original name again? Pretty embarrassing to get banned from a message board, don't you think?

And to answer your question, I'd feel equally disgusted if Bill O'brien was recruiting this way.

The ridiculous recruiting pressure is part of what gives these kids a screwed sense of purpose in the first place.

Dermontti Dawson

Wille Roaf

Cortez Kennedy

Chris Doleman

Jack Butler

Curtis Martin

HOF Class of 2012

Meyer is going to fit right in with that unscrupulous university. OSU has never done things morally or ethically correct so why should they start now? There are many snakes in the college coaching ranks and Meyer ranks right up there at the top.

This is where the problem has, and always will be:

College football has rules and college football has ethics- when it comes to recruiting. You must follow the rules (well, your supposed to anyway), but you don't have to be ethical as long as you don't cross the line of violating a rule.

Some people believe ethics goes along with the rules as an extension of sorts. Maybe it should, but it does not. In the SEC, its all out there: Eat or be eaten. As long as you don't get caught- you ain't cheating and if you ain't cheating- you ain't trying.

In other places, it may be similar overall but like the Big Ten, they have a personal line drawn before the line of the law. A competive spirtual thing of sorts, even if it is not seen the same way very often.

It is time to take the advantage away from the SEC and those that recruit like them. Either make rules that are more set and obvious (very hard to manipulate), or open the barn doors and let the SEC way be the way for all. One or the other.

Watching someone excel at something because they know how to, and/or are allowed to prepare in a more hell bent manner, takes away from the overall competition. Simply, take away the gentlemen's way of doing things by making there be no need for a gentlemen's agreement in the first place.

Can college football get an sleazier? Oily Urban Meyer in the Big 10. There goes the neighborhood.

When he said he needed to spend more time with his family was that a crime family?

This guy is as slimey as it gets. Actually, having said that, I think he is perfect for Ohio State considering the history of the football program. To go from Tressel to Urban is all you need to know. What a poor example of a leader of young men. Win at all costs, baby.

Perhaps Meyer can top his record of 31 player arrests which he achieved at Florida.

Urban Meyer is just following the law of the jungle

--------------------------------------------

Then we really can't expect these "student-athletes"
to behave any differently

Aloha Bob!!!!!

Just flew in from Hawaii. Happy to report I did not see I play of the Pro Bowl, live or on TV.

I know your blog was concerned with who was selected and participating. I did happen to see a replay on KITV of Honolulu. I don't think the lineman were blocking. Are you concerned about the lack of effort of the Pro Bowlers???

Any way, about Urban Meyer being a liar and hypocrite, don't believe it.

I would take Urban over Wanny, Freddy Kruger, Todd the Graham cracker, and Paul, I love the smell of roses, Chryst any day.

Sorry to hear about Paterno. If you were a division I head coach, would you ever want to retire after playing Illinois??

A verbal commitment is non-binding until Feb 1. If they want to get rid of this issue - move up the signing date.

The biggest problem is how the media (ESPN) covers the signings or tracking where these kids are going. They make these kids feel that they are bound for the NFL where in reality - only a small percentage make it. Some of them never make an impact on the college team that selects them!

Stop the ESPN madness and move up the signing date. Until they do that - the kids are fair game until Feb 1.



When in doubt, blame the media. --- Bob Smizik

Meyer and Ohio State are a perfect fit !!!


NUFF SAID !!!!!!

Just like the playoff system, the recruiting process needs realistic reform.

Re the Bielema quote, "I can tell you this, we in the Big Ten don't want to be like the SEC -- in any way, shape or form."

I bet your fans would like to see teams that actually compete for the national championship like the SEC does, and would be willing to forgive a little shady behavior if that's what it takes.

Many kids end up going to College B when they have given a verbal commitment to College A, even without College B coach trying to lure them.

But why does the NCAA even have verbal commitments? Do away with that aspect of recruiting and this tempest in a teapot will be put to rest.

I also don't buy the idea Meyer "pressured" those kids. Did he threaten to break their kneecaps if they didn't sign with OSU? Also, parents can help the kids push back against any pressure from coaches.

I think he is perfect for Ohio State considering the history of the football program.[/quote

So the history of Buckeyes football started with Tressel? That's just as ridiculous as saying the history of Penn State football started with the revelation of the Sandusky situation.

Bob:
Did you read all of Bianchi's column?
Here are excerpts from later in the piece: "UCF coach George O'Leary and Florida coach Will Muschamp . . . both believe recruiting rankings are more for the fans and media than they are an actual gauge on how players will perform at the next level. "If you go back and look at the history … of all these four and five-star guys," O'Leary said. "They're working somewhere at McDonalds." . . . He cites a Wall Street Journal report recently that found 69 percent of all NFL draft picks over the last five years received a three-star rating or lower by the recruiting services. All you need to do is look at two of the premier running backs in the NFL — three-star guys like Ray Rice and Matt Forte — to realize what a crap shoot the recruiting game really is."

I don't understand why anyone is surprised by Urban Meyer. Every time I look at him I'm reminded of characters from the movie, "The Sting."

Bielema really is commenting about the ethics of SEC? Coming off of a year when two of the biggest scandals in the history of college football were in the Big 10? Two of the coaching legends (or is that leaders?) of Big 10 football fired and shamed? If there's an ethical question here, it's the collusion that this "gentlemens agreement" implies. The committment letters bind these 17 and 18 year old kids to these colleges (where all too often they find that the coach who recruited them has left for more money elseshere) - they're not bound until the day the letters are signed and have every right to reconsider any "verbal" agreement. Any insider's agreement between coaches that has the effect of preventing a kid from exploring his other options within the conference until the letter is signed is shady at best.

Any insider's agreement between coaches that has the effect of preventing a kid from exploring his other options within the conference until the letter is signed is shady at best.

That is incredibly poor comprehension of the written article.

The gentlemens agreement has been that another coach will not continue to pressure a kid once he has made his decision.

The player still has every right in the world to open up his recruitment.

If one of your colleagues continued to make advances at your fiance after she clearly accepted your proposal, wouldn't that p*ss you off just a bit?