Ohio State Football Recruiting: Don't Be Surprised by Urban Meyer's Tactics

Stop the presses! A top-flight coach with BCS titles on his resume—not to mention at one of the elite programs in all of college football—isn't a saint?!

You mean to tell me that Urban Meyer might've been just as responsible for destroying the Florida Gators as he was for building them into two-time national champions—and that he's used shady recruiting tactics against his former employer since riding into Ohio State on a white horse back in November?

Say it ain't so, Urban! Say it ain't so!

According to Matt Hayes of Sporting News, it is so. In his report, Hayes mentions how Meyer allegedly told the family of Stefon Diggs—one of the top high-school wide receivers in the country—that he wouldn't let his own son play football at Florida on account of a poor locker-room culture.

You know, the one for which some other dude named Urban Meyer is largely responsible...

Wait...what's that? They're the same person? Awkwarrrd.

Hayes goes on to detail how things went awry for Meyer in The Swamp, with particular focus on a supposed "circle of trust" consisting of star players for whom the coach provided extra cover amidst improper conduct off the field.

Maybe I'm just a cynic with a heart hardened by the boilerplate stupidity and seediness that seems to well up from the college gridiron year in and year out, but a revelation like this is hardly surprising.

Even hardly so—and, perhaps, especially—for a coach like Meyer, who used his one-year stint with ESPN as a sort of pedestal from which to expound on his views about the ills of college football and how to fix them. Never once did he point a finger at himself, but who could expect him to? Have we not learned from watching the likes of Nick Saban and Bobby Petrino that the top college coaches aren't exactly immune to self-serving behavior?

If anything, it's that sort of underhanded conduct—negative recruiting included—upon which so many great coaching careers seem to be founded. Meyer hasn't managed to hop from one powerhouse program to another because he's a perfect role model or because he does things the "right" way.

Rather, Meyer gets the big jobs because he wins, and winning in today's game (as in just about any era) requires a bit of conniving, at the very least. It's a ruthless, competitive, dog-eat-dog world in college football, especially on the recruiting trail, where convincing a particular 18-year-old kid to play for you can ultimately mean the difference between excelling at your job and getting a pink slip.

Think Meyer would have two rings around his fingers if Tim Tebow had chosen USC over Florida?

That's not to say that Meyer should be lauded in any way for the activity that's aided his success and invited failure in its wake.

Instead, it's important to understand that this sort of report is nothing new, that it's hardly something that should shock and surprise, and that football is still a dirty business wherein "gentlemen's agreements" are practically made to be broken by those—like Meyer—who are more concerned with their own success than with garnering the respect of their peers.

As for Diggs? He chose Maryland anyway, so Meyer's tactics aren't exactly fool-proof. 

Realistically, Meyer wasn't out to push Florida football back into the mud; he just wanted Diggs to help him win at Ohio State and had no qualms about doing whatever it took (within the rules or otherwise) to make that happen.

Can we move on now?

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