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Enough Reading Between the Sidelines on Meyer

James Vogel

Urban Meyer is an emotional man. He always has been.

When something goes wrong, like any coach, he can react in the most absurd way possible.

When something goes well, he celebrates with the occasional double victory punch or throwing his hands in the air.

A game is a roller coaster of emotion for Meyer, and this isn’t new. He has always coached this way. With passion and emotion. And yes, sometimes to a fault.

Over the last few months, Meyer’s reactions and body language have been put under a microscope for numerous reasons. Covered in scandal and controversy, many are proclaiming that his time in Columbus may be coming to an end over.

They use the past as prologue.

At the end of his Florida run, Meyer had a health scare resulting in his departure from college football after the 2010 season.

At least for a moment.

We all know the story. People said that Meyer left because things got too difficult, causing him to run away from the big, bad Nick Saban and the rise of the dominant SEC. Arguably Urban Meyer’s own creation.

Now, people are saying the same thing. Urban Meyer is going to leave Ohio State because the Big Ten is becoming tough to compete in. Again, Meyer’s own creation.

During the matchup this year against Indiana, in the 4th quarter, Meyer fell to his knees due to pain from a brain cyst. This is something Meyer has been struggling with for over two decades, but the health scare is used as evidence that he is going to “fake another health issue to get out because things are getting too hard.”

Along with the cyst, people are pointing at his reactions and body language during games as further proof.

This all came to a peak this past Saturday against Maryland where seemingly in between every play the camera was on Meyer looking for his reactions. A Truman Show-type experience. He looked, at times, in pain, confused, stressed, with the occasional celebration.

And Twitter took notice.

People like to diagnose Meyer’s reactions, but keep in mind he has been doing the “hands on his knees” and looking dejected since he arrived at Ohio State. It is more pronounced this year, there is no denying that, but it is nothing new.

For example, Twitter used a moment during the Maryland game when during a timeout in the fourth quarter in the red zone, Meyer had his hands on his knees looking down outside the huddle where his players and coaches were planning the next play.

People used that as an example of Meyer not being well. If you have been to a few Ohio State games since his arrival, you would have seen that he has done this for years. This isn’t new. He is talking to assistants up in the booth, gathering his thoughts. It’s just microscope talk.

When Meyer reacted in a similar manner in 2014 as he watched Ohio State lose at home to Virginia Tech – the Buckeyes’ third loss in four games — no one cared.

When Meyer couldn’t stop touching his head in a loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship in 2013, no one reacted because there were no known health issues.

When Meyer threw his headset during the Alabama game like he did against Maryland, no one reacted because his team wasn’t underperforming all season long.

I don’t know what will happen with Meyer after this season.

I have my theories on why he will be back.

But I know right now it doesn’t help diagnosing Urban’s body language under a microscope because this is how he has always reacted.

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