Urban Meyer to be an assistant AD at Ohio State after retirement from coaching
Urban Meyer will have the words “athletic director” in his post-coaching title at Ohio State.
Meyer will be an assistant athletic director with his official duties to be determined, according to athletic director Gene Smith. He told that to multiple outlets, including Yahoo Sports. Meyer is retiring after the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 and is staying on Ohio State’s payroll after he’s officially replaced by Ryan Day as the team’s coach.
Smith told cleveland.com that Meyer will hold the title of assistant athletic director, though he’s not yet sure of the specifics. He also explained how he might handle things if he feels Meyer is hanging around football in a way that could make life more difficult on new head coach Ryan Day.
“I’m not that worried about it, but it’s something we have to pay attention to,” Smith said. “I’m not that worried because of our relationship. I’m very direct with him. If I see him step over, I’ll say, ‘Hey, buddy, let’s talk about that.’ We have that relationship where I can say, ‘Brother, you’ve got to be careful here. What are you doing?’”
Day was the team’s interim coach for three games at the start of 2018 when Meyer was suspended for his role in handling the domestic abuse allegations against former assistant Zach Smith.
Gene Smith also told Cleveland.com that Meyer will have a role with helping out Ohio State’s coaches across other sports as part of his post-coaching duties.
As part of his assistant AD duties Meyer will teach a class on character and leadership. He revealed that to a Cleveland TV station this week. He also said that he wasn’t sure if he’d have been able to retire at the end of 2018 if the team had lost to Michigan to end the season. Ohio State blew out the Wolverines to win the Big Ten East and won the Big Ten title a week later.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
Follow @NickBromberg on Twitter
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