Urban Meyer as Arizona State football coach? Dan Patrick says 'keep an eye' on Sun Devils

The 2022 ASU football season hasn't even started and speculation continues to swirl around ASU football coach Herm Edwards and his job security with the Sun Devils.

Dan Patrick added fuel to the fire of speculation Wednesday when he indicated that the ASU football team could be a team to "keep an eye on" for Urban Meyer if the former Jacksonville Jaguars coach and current Fox Sports analyst decided to get back into coaching in college, where he has had a lot of success.

"I had some correspondence with my college football source. we were talking about Urban Meyer, could you see Urban Meyer going back into coaching?" Patrick said on his show, The Dan Patrick Show. "You know what my source said? Paulie (Executive producer Paul Pabst) is onto something with Nebraska."

He continued: "My source also said, here's another team to keep an eye out for with Urban Meyer … But let's say that Nebraska could be in play for Urban Meyer.  Maybe. Hypothetical. Now the other school that my source just told me. Keep an eye on this school for Urban Meyer. Anybody want to take a guess?"

After a lot of unsuccessful guesses, Patrick said: "Arizona State."

More: ASU football fans have very different takes on Urban Meyer as potential Sun Devils coach

More: Arizona State football, Herm Edwards slammed in college football coach hot seat ranking

Meyer has coached in college at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State. He has spent time as an analyst for ESPN and Fox Sports and went 2-11 as the Jaguars head coach in the 2021 NFL season before being fired.

He has won three national championships in college, but controversy has followed him.

According to Bleacher Report, Meyer had 31 players arrested during his time at Florida.

At Ohio State he was put on leave before retiring after keeping an assistant on his coaching staff after knowing that coach had allegedly abused his wife, as detailed in a story by ESPN.

His 13 games with the Jaguars were "tumultuous," according to CBS Sports, which detailed the "disaster" of his tenure with a timeline.

More: Herm Edwards, Ray Anderson set for huge bonuses because of Arizona State academic success

As for Herm Edwards, his Arizona State football program has been under investigation by the NCAA over recruiting allegations.

ASU football has seen five coaches depart amid the investigation, including offensive coordinator Zak Hill and recruiting coordinator Antonio Pierce, also the defensive coordinator and associate head coach.

Recruiting has suffered, as the Sun Devils have brought in few recruits and many key players have entered the transfer portal and found teams elsewhere.

As a result, the team is thin at some positions as its depth has suffered.

Speculation has swirled about Edwards' security as coach, with many calling for him to be fired.

"I think he's on the hot seat," Patrick said of Edwards on his show Wednesday. "I think he's on that hot seat."

More: ASU President Michael Crow explains why Herm Edwards is still Sun Devils' football coach

Herm Edwards may very well be on the hot seat at ASU, but is Urban Meyer the answer for the Sun Devils' woes?

That might be a reach, at best, given Meyer's baggage, summed up four years ago in this piece by USA Today that said "Meyer’s legacy as a coach is tainted" and "no accomplishments on the field can ever contribute to some forced redemption narrative or erase his hypocritical attitude toward women."

More: Did ASU football, coach Herm Edwards deserve scathing criticism from anonymous coaches?

Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Urban Meyer replace Herm Edwards as Arizona State football coach?