One day after Nick Saban lead his Alabama Crimson Tide to their third BCS National Title in 4 years and a little over two years since he coached his last game, Urban Myer announced the end of his two year "retirement" and will return to the sidelines as the new head coach of the University of Southern California. Meyer will take over for the recently fired Lane Kiffin, who amidst a postseason bowl-ban and scholarship losses lead the once-feared Trojans to a combined 18-18 record in 3 seasons.
Despite citing "family concerns" and a desire to be a better father and husband as the reasons for walking away from one of the most coveted jobs in college football, the former Florida head man lasted only 2 years before recovering from his delusional state and putting his career back ahead of his family.
During the press conference announcing his return, Meyer, standing alongside USC Athletic Director Pat Haden, admitted that he hadn't quite thought through the impact of spending such large amounts of time with his family:
I realized pretty quickly what a huge mistake I made. Really, it was only a couple of days before I wanted to get the hell out of that house. After spending one entire week - and I mean entire week - with my wife and daughters, I think we all realized that we really don't like each other all that much and maybe the extreme emotional distance brought about by my hectic schedule was actually a good thing. I think finally understand why Paterno plans to coach until he's 193.Meyer continued:
Think about it, if you were faced with the choice between making millions of dollars, being insanely famous and having people kiss your ass constantly or cleaning out the garage and going to college volleyball games, which would you choose? Exactly.Meyer also shared a lighter moment, remembering his last press conference, quipping:
Last time I said 'At the end of the day, I'm very convinced that you're going to be judged on how you are as a husband and as a father and not on how many bowl games we won.' I was totally full of shit. It really is all about bowl games.After the assembled media recovered from their laughter induced aneurysms, they questioned Meyer on why he didn't immediately return once he realized his mistake, he responded:
Did you see our team my last year? We were awful finishing near bottom of the SEC in every offensive category; got blown out in games against Alabama, South Carolina and Florida State and finished 7-5. I had totally whiffed on letting Cam Newton walk away while trusting that Brantley kid to replace the Lamb of god. No way I wanted back in on that sinking ship. Plus, after looking around the rest of the SEC, I thought why not wait a year or two and take a job in a much easier conference where I can win 10 games a year without breaking a sweat. It works for Jim Tressel at Ohio State, why can't it work for Urban Meyer. As expected Lane Kiffin flopped and the Southern Cal job was mine for the taking. I would like to thank Lane and his staff for waiting out all those pesky sanctions so I can start with a clean slate.Meyer also added:
Oh yeah, and I also didn't want to come off like some wishy-washy prick like Brett Favre or something. I hate that guy."The now 48-year-old Meyer indicated that he has gained new perspective during his time away, addressing both USC's past misdeeds as the reputation that his Gator program lacked discipline and promising to "do a better job of keeping that kind of thing out of the papers ... I've really learned from my past mistakes."
Meyer closed the press conference by promising USC fans and supporters he is, in fact, in it for the long haul, has no intend on walking away and ready to return USC to its past glories:
"The last two times I walked away were just knee-jerk reactions," Meyer said. "This time is just completely different."
Meyer signed a six-year, $36 million contract, averaging $6m per season, which edges him past Nick Saban and Mack Brown as the highest paid coach in the FBS.
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