Urban Meyer was born in Toledo, Ohio, but grew up in Ashtabula, Ohio. It was there where he would fall in love with the game of football. Later in life, he would play football at the University of Cincinnati as a defensive back and a placeholder.

Then he started coaching, first as an intern defensive back coach at Saint Xavier High under the mentorship of legendary high school coach, Steve Rasso. This is also where he would meet Ohio State coaches and how he would get his first collegiate job as a tight end coach at Ohio State. Meyer would spend the next thirteen years of his life as an assistant at various schools such as Notre Dame,Colorado State, and Illinois State. In 1990, Meyer called the home of the Toledo head coach and rival Nick Saban. Nick Saban never called back and has said he regrets it to this day. In 2001, Meyer got his first ever head coaching job at Bowling Green, creating one of the biggest turn around seasons in NCAA football history, capping off an 8-3 season with a 56-21 win over–you guessed it–Toledo. This is pretty impressive, considering that team went 2-9 the year before. After a 17-6 overall record with Bowling Green, Meyer packed his bags and headed to Utah.

In 2003, the Utah Utes were hardly a football powerhouse, as they hadn’t won a conference championship since 1957–that is, before Urban came to town. Meyer won the Mountain West Conference coach of the year with an awesome 10-2 record. The next year, under now NFL star QB Alex Smith, the Utes went a perfect 12-0 and got a BCS Bowl series bid to a fairly good Fiesta Bowl. That is were Meyer would upset Pittsburg and win his first of many bowl games.

In 2005, based on his accomplishments at the University of Utah and Notre Dame, he signed a $14,000,000 contract to become the Florida Gators’ Head Coach. This is where Urban Meyer’s name was shouted from the rooftops, as he lead the team to a National Championship under Heisman QB, Tim Tebow. Four years later he would step down and become an ESPN analyst.

After a short stint at ESPN, Meyer took a job at the Ohio state, where he would win multiple championships, coach multiple NFL talents, and carry the powerhouse that is Ohio State Football.

So, to Urban Meyer, all controversy set aside, thank you for the memories of sitting with my brother and dad as we watched you coach; you made Saturdays special.  

Sources:
waitingfornextyear.com
wikipedia.org