Meyer Set To Retire

Ohio State started the season without head coach Urban Meyer on the sideline, and it will go forward after the Rose Bowl without him.

Meyer will formally announce his retirement on Tuesday afternoon. Offensive coordinator Ryan Day, who coached the first three games of this season while Meyer was suspended, will be taking over.

Meyer, 54, has been the Buckeyes coach for seven years, winning a national championship to go with the two he collected while at the University of Florida. He has been suffering from an arachnoid cyst on his brain, which causes severe headaches during stressful periods. Watching Meyer work over the recent weeks has led many to suspect this physical condition was not good.

Health issues plagued Meyer at Florida as well. He retired, then quickly unretired, coached one more season and then took a year off – if working as an ESPN analyst is a year off – before moving on to Columbus.

Day, who led the Buckeyes to a 3-0 record while Meyer was being punished over failure to follow policies regarding an assistant coach’s alleged domestic violence incidents, will give OSU continuity. He certainly would have been an attractive coaching candidate at another school.

Meyer posted a 92-9 record at Ohio State. The Buckeyes were 54-4 in Big Ten games under his command and never lost to Michigan (7-0).

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman