BY DAVID BALLARD
On Monday, former Florida head coach Urban Meyer announced a contract with ESPN to join their network as a college football analyst. For some reason, fans of college football will undoubtedly roast Meyer for this decision; claiming he isn’t being dedicated to the family for which he left his coaching job. This is ignorance.
The job of college football analyst is glorified. They fly to Bristol, complete their cycle of appearances, rehash their opinions on a multitude of shows and then return home. Maybe the trip takes two days; maybe Meyer spends a week up at the Worldwide Leader in sports. Do critics actually believe parents can, or even should, spend every waking moment with their children? Meyer is simply staring a new career, one that requires a little travel. He isn’t abandoning his family, he is simply doing another job. These critics obviously still hold a grudge against him for the way he left the Florida program, harassing him via message boards and Twitter feeds all across the country. However, they were wrong there too. They claim he left because of their record, that because they weren’t winning national championships, he decided to leave. They say that with out Tim Tebow, they will never be as successful as they were. The main reason they won those championships were because of his coaching, his leadership, and his recruiting. Florida fans don’t hold a grudge against him, so why should the people he beat?
This move is a great hire for ESPN. They get an experienced analyst fresh from the game, brimming with insight into the ever-changing landscape of the obsessive sport. Though it might be an even better move for Meyer. He still gets to be involved with his family life and his football life. He seems happy with it. Why isn’t everyone else?