Urban Meyer Denies Ohio State Return Rumors, Has 'Full Confidence' in Ryan Day

Former Ohio State head football coach Urban Meyer denied Thursday that he has any interest in returning as head coach of the Buckeyes.

In a statement released via Tim May of Lettermen Row, Meyer emphasized that he does not want to coach, and he noted that he has "full confidence" in current OSU head coach Ryan Day and his staff:

Speaking this week on the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show (h/t Brad Crawford of 247Sports), WKYC-TV anchor Jay Crawford said Meyer would have interest in returning to coach at Ohio State if Day were to get fired at the end of the season.

Meyer, 60, spent seven seasons as head coach at Ohio State from 2012 to 2018, going 83-9 and winning three Big Ten championships and one national title.

After retiring at the end of the 2018 season for health reasons, Meyer spent some time as a college football analyst before returning to the sidelines at the NFL level in 2021 as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Meyer did not even last one full season in Jacksonville, as he was fired after a 2-11 start to the campaign.

In conjunction with Meyer's 2018 retirement, Day was named the new head coach at Ohio State, earning a promotion from the offensive coordinator position he held in 2017 and 2018.

Day has accrued an impressive 66-10 record as head coach of the Buckeyes, winning two Big Ten titles and the 2019 Big Ten Coach of the Year Award.

However, the Buckeyes are just 1-3 in the College Football Playoff under Day's guidance, and they have not won a national championship.

Perhaps even more damning than that is the fact that Ohio State has now lost four consecutive games to chief rival Michigan, including a shocking 13-10 home defeat last weekend.

The Buckeyes were heavily favored to end their three-game losing streak against the Wolverines last week, as they entered the game ranked No. 2 in the nation with a 10-2 record, while Michigan was just 6-5.

Instead, the Wolverines prevailed in a sloppy, turnover-laden game, leaving Ohio State out of the Big Ten Championship Game.

The Buckeyes are still essentially a lock for the College Football Playoff as the No. 6 team in the nation, but if they don't make a deep run, calls for a coaching change from the Ohio State fanbase are likely to get even louder.