Urban Meyer turns 58 today, here are 4 things to know about the OSU legend
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Urban Meyer made an impact on Ohio State football.
Joining the program in 2012 with two national titles at Florida, the Toledo native led the Buckeyes to a national title in 2014 and another College Football Playoff appearance in 2016 before retiring two seasons later.
In Ohio State's history, Meyer has the fourth-most wins, sitting behind Woody Hayes (1951-78, 205 wins), John Cooper (1988-2000, 111 wins) and Jim Tressel (2001-10, 94 wins), before he left the program in 2018, leading the Buckeyes to a Rose Bowl win against Washington.
On the former Ohio State head coach's 58th birthday, here's four things to know about Meyer"
Urban Meyer was an Ohio State graduate assistant
Ohio State wasn't Meyer's first stop on his coaching path.
The former Buckeye head coach was first a secondary coach at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati in 1985 before spending two seasons as an Ohio State graduate assistant.
Meyer's career as a position coach sprouted from there, taking jobs as the outside linebackers coach at Illinois State in 1988 before switching to quarterbacks and wide receivers with the Redbirds in 1989. He then was a wide receivers coach for six seasons at Colorado State from 1990-95 and five seasons at Notre Dame from 1996-2000.
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Urban Meyer's head coaching career began 118 miles north of Columbus
Before becoming Ohio State's head coach in 2012, Meyer was the head coach at Bowling Green.
Coming off a 2-9 season under Gary Blackney in 2000, Meyer turned things around in one season, leading the Falcons to an 8-3 record in 2001.
In two seasons as the Bowling Green head coach, Meyer led the team to a record of 17-6, earning the Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year award in 2001.
Urban Meyer is the fourth winningest coach in Ohio State history.
Meyer's track record was huge when he first arrived at Ohio State.
When he took the job in 2012, he had already two national titles under his belt at Florida, along with an undefeated season at Utah.
And when he took control of the Buckeyes, the success followed, leading Ohio State to wins in each of his first 24 games and finishing with a career record of 83-9.
The Buckeyes then won a national championship in the first College Football Playoff despite losing both Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett at quarterback to season-ending injuries, leaving Cardale Jones to lead the playoff run.
The Buckeyes returned to the College Football Playoff in 2016, falling to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl.
Meyer retired after the 2018 season, during which he was placed on administrative leave and suspended for the first three games of the season after reports surfaced that he was aware of abuse allegations against former Ohio State wide receivers coach Zach Smith prior to his firing from the program.
Urban Meyer has the fourth-shortest coaching tenure in NFL history.
Meyer's NFL coaching tenure didn't exactly go as planned.
The former Ohio State head coach was fired after 13 games after posting a record of 2-11 combined with reports of mistreatment of players and coaches, along with a viral video of Meyer and another woman at an Ohio bar/restaurant.
Meyer is tied with former Atlanta Falcons head coach Bobby Petrino (2007) and former New York Jets head coach Lou Holtz (1976) for fourth with 13 games, while former San Francisco 49ers head coach Pete McCulley (1978) was fired after nine games, former Los Angeles Rams head coach George Allen was fired after two two preseason games and Bill Belichick, who resigned as the New York Jets head coach during his opening press conference before becoming the 12th head coach of the New England Patriots.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Urban Meyer, Ohio State football coach, celebrates 58th birthday
