Pros and cons if Urban Meyer returned to coach the Ohio State football program

Jay Crawford of WKYC, Cleveland, and a former ESPN employee, said Urban Meyer would be interested in returning to Ohio State if Ryan Day was fired. Below are the pros and cons of Urban Meyer returning to the Buckeyes after a successful seven-year run before Ryan Day took over.  

Pro- He is undefeated against Michigan

Without a doubt, the number one goal of every Ohio State coach is to beat Michigan. No one better understands that than Urban Meyer, who went 7-0 against The Team Up North, as he calls them. Urban Meyer understood how to get his team ready for Michigan and they usually played their best games against them.

There is something about an Ohio guy who understands the rivalry. Jim Tressel went 9-1 against Michigan and then Urban followed it up by going undefeated. Urban understands and has experienced this rivalry, so his coming back would give the Buckeyes a legitimate chance to beat Michigan every year.

Con-Age and Health

Urban Meyer is one of the most intense coaches in the recent history of College Football, but he gets burned out quickly and has major health problems. He is also 60 years old, so on the back half of his career. He has had several major health scares so that is always the concern. Recruiting might be tough as people will question how long he would be at Ohio State. Hiring a 60-year-old coach with health problems would not seem to be a long-term option for a head coach at Ohio State.

Pro-Recruiting and developing talent

Urban Meyer is one of the best recruiting coaches in our lifetime. He has recruited and developed players at impressive clips at Utah, Florida, and Ohio State. His ability to develop all kinds of different position players is impressive. He knows how to align everything from the strength coach to the coaching staff and to get the best out of his players.

Con-Urban Meyer's offenses can be archaic

Every Ohio State fan remembers J.T. Barrett sitting in an empty formation and running quarterback power. It was a staple of the Ohio State offense. At times when he was at Ohio State, Meyer's offense had become very predictable. They were reliant on the quarterback run and lacked some creativity in the passing game. I know Ryan Day and Kevin Wilson had started to change this in his last few years as a coach, but this is a concern about Meyer.

Pro-Urban Meyer record is unprecendented

Urban Meyer is 187-32 is one of the best of all time. All he does is win and win big. At Ohio State, Urban Meyer went 13-4 in top-10 match-ups and 6-2 in top-5 match-ups. Flip it to Ryan Day who has gone 3-6 in top-5 match-ups and 11-8 in top-10 match-ups. Meyer is an elite coach, and there is no way around it. He also has won two National Championships, two more than Ryan Day has.

Con-Urban Meyer left under a cloud of a scandal

Zach Smith had a long track record of violence against his ex-wife, and Urban Meyer and the Athletic Director Gene Smith knew that he did, and they hired him anyway. Meyer ultimately served a 3-game suspension for this incident and stepped down after the season.

Smith was not a great wide receiver coach and did a ton of stupid things while he was an assistant under Meyer. Hiring and retaining Smith was a mistake by Meyer. Comparing it to what Brian Hartline has done since Smith left shows how bad a coach Zach Smith was.

Pro-Urban Meyer is a no-brainer hire for Ohio State if they move on from Ryan Day

Urban Meyer has the 3rd highest winning percentage in College Football History with a .854 winning percentage. He lives in Columbus and understands Ohio State inside and out. He also hired the strength coach, Mickey Marotti, and general manager, Mark Pantoni.

He has built the infrastructure Ohio State has to make the program elite. I don't think you could find a better coach. It might only last 4-7 years, but has the potential to be a great return for Meyer and Ohio State.