Why Urban Meyer Should Stay Far Away from Penn State

With The New York Times reporting that Joe Paterno may soon be relieved of his duties at Penn State, the speculation has already begun about possible replacements. One name that always comes up when a marquee job becomes available is Urban Meyer. The former Florida coach should avoid Penn State at all costs.

Per The Times:

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Joe Paterno’s tenure as coach of the Penn State football team will soon be over, perhaps within days or weeks, in the wake of a sex-abuse scandal that has implicated university officials, according to two people briefed on conversations among the university’s top officials.

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The reason Meyer should strike down any links to a potential opening is simple—it's a toxic environment right now. With the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal blowing up over the weekend, Penn State is currently a campus in turmoil.

If Paterno is indeed let go for his lack of involvement in stopping Sandusky, the coach who replaces him will have a mess to clean up—and it will take a long time to do it.

For a coach with a good reputation like Meyer, he would be putting it at risk by taking the Penn State job, which was considered an elite option until this past weekend. Now, it's anything but that until the controversy blows over, and that won't be happening any time soon.

Even though Meyer would be the perfect type of coach to rectify the situation because of his calm, cool demeanor, there are just too many risks involved for him.

Penn State's best option if Paterno is out of the picture would be naming an interim coach for the rest of the season while the university gets to work in fixing its reputation. Perhaps if they do a good enough job, they'll be able to encourage a high-profile coach to take the job.

All that said, the main focus right now shouldn't be the next football coach. There are far more pressing issues that need addressing in both the short and long term.

And that's exactly why Meyer should opt to stay away.