Is Urban Meyer going to Michigan State? Predicting potential candidates for MSU HC job ahead of 2024 season
It has been a while since we've seen Urban Meyer's name heat up the world of college football.
The 59-year-old left an impression among CFB fans during his stints with the Florida Gators and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Meyer's last coaching stint was in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars, after which he shifted his focus to the world of broadcasting.
However, now, there seems to be a window of opportunity for Meyer to return as a coach at the collegiate level once again with the Michigan State Spartans. The development happens in the aftermath of the firing of Michigan State's former coach Mel Tucker. So, is Meyer making a comeback with his coaching career?
Is Urban Meyer going to Michigan State?
Recently, there have been a lot of rumors regarding the possibility of Urban Meyer signing as the coach of the Michigan State Spartans.
Meyer has an excellent collegiate record of 187-32, winning two nationals with Florida and one with Ohio State. While it looks like the right decision for the program, Athletic's Bruce Feldman has said that the 59-year-old has no interest in returning as a coach.
Following the circulation of these rumors, Feldman tweeted that he contacted the former coach. During that interaction, Meyer said that the rumors were not true and that he was enjoying his broadcasting career with Fox Sports.
"About the 'reports' linking Urban Meyer to Michigan State HC job... I just checked with him. There is zero truth to it with him being a candidate for it. He has no interest in that, and is happy with what he's doing now at Fox Sports", Feldman said.
In September, the Spartans fired Mel Tucker following harassment allegations by activist Brenda Tracy.
The program then went on to promote defensive backs coach Harlon Barnett as the interim head coach for the rest of the season. Despite the Spartans going on a six-game losing streak under Barnett, most of the focus has been on who will be the team's next coach.
While Meyer may have denied the possibility of him joining Michigan State, Fox Sports radio host Bernie Fratto stated new developments in the story. Fratto was one of the people who broke the Meyer-Michigan State news weeks ago.
During an interview on The Daily Ticker with Jeff Riger, he said that Meyer is showing interest in the job, but the degree of his interest is unknown.
"Ishbia is a billionaire. I am told he is working very hard to make this happen. And there is not a number that he can't meet if he doesn't want to. As long as Urban wants the job, and that at the end of the day is the only real x-factor.
"Does Urban really want this job? We think he does. To what degree? I don't know. As I joked about in our last conversation, everybody's got their price. So its continuing. It's fluid. It took a major upturn in the last 48 hours", Fratto said.
If Urban Meyer refuses to return to the coaching world, who else could be a potential choice for the Michigan State Spartans?
Potential candidates for Michigan State apart from Urban Meyer
Amidst all the Urban Meyer rumors, another report suggests that the Spartans are also trying their luck with Washington State coach Jake Dickert.
These alleged reports came to light after a tweet made by Message Board Geniuses from an anonymous person who claimed that a player from the team gave his source this information.
"A player on the team told my source there are rumors circulating in the locker room that Dickert took the MSU job. My sources believes that has contributed to the team not buying in an playing horribly these last few weeks"
While the source's information is yet to be validated, it will be interesting to see who ends up as the next coach of the Spartans.