Urban Meyer on friend becoming Michigan head coach: ‘What?’

Urban Meyer has solidified his legacy as one of the greatest head coaches in Ohio State history. Perhaps more importantly to fans than leading the Buckeyes to the national championship in the 20-14-15 season, is his going 7-0 against the Michigan Wolverines.

Meyer has since retired from coaching. He was replaced on the Buckeyes’ sideline by Ryan Day, and the Wolverines will now have a new face leading them for the upcoming rendition of The Game, with Kyle Whittingham replacing the fired Sherrone Moore.

Whittingham was Meyer’s defensive coordinator at the University of Utah in 2003 and 2004, and the two developed a close friendship, putting Meyer in a somewhat awkward position.

The former Buckeye was honest about his initial reaction to Michigan’s hire.

“I’m a Buckeye, so my first thought was, ‘What?’” Meyer admitted, before taking a more balanced approach.

“He’s my friend. Kyle and I are really close, but it didn’t take long for me to put two and two together. Not only did I tell him that I think it was a great move, but it was exactly what that school in Ann Arbor needed. They fell into the perfect guy.”

Underwood unleashed

Part of what will determine whether Meyer’s prediction of Whittingham being the perfect fit in Ann Arbor comes true will be how well he develops quarterback Bryce Underwood. Whittingham spoke earlier in the offseason about Underwood’s work with offensive coordinator Jason Beck and quarterbacks coach Koy Detmer Jr.

“It’s kind of a tag team approach with those two,” Whittingham said. “It’s just polishing up some things with Bryce, footwork things, some throwing motion nuances, and obviously teaching the scheme. Fortunately — and it’s one of the things that makes Jason such an outstanding coordinator, particularly in this day and age — he’s got a very user-friendly offense with not a steep learning curve.”

“He’s got the right mentality, the right work ethic,” Whittingham said of Underwood. “He’s willing, he’s hungry — as is the whole football team. That was one of the things that was really positive when I got here — the willingness of this team and the hunger they had for structure and discipline and being pushed hard. We pushed it pretty hard this winter conditioning, and they answered the bell to everything we threw at them.”

Michigan opens the season against the Western Michigan Broncos on September 5.

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