Per ESPN…
He was a train wreck as a HC at the pro level.
Time to go back to the booth. I’m sure FOX will want him back on their College Gameday crew.
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I fear that with this job, he has forever damaged his brand and has become too toxic for any other gigs. When I heard about his rant at his coaches and the threats to quell the leaks to the media, I figured he was done. It felt like a flash back to Rick Pitino to me. I wondered if he could take his success and have it translate at the professional level, but I am not entirely surprised that it ended this way. (Well, in fairness I did think he would get to finish the season with Jacksonville.)
I remember hearing an anecdote where Pitino was getting upset at the Celtics players in practice once for not doing a drill the way he wanted them to do it. Someone watching yelled at Pitino something like “They’re not in college anymore. They don’t have to listen to you.” (I tried to Google for that incident this morning but could find nothing.) I think that Urban at least partly ran into the same issue. In college, these kids want to make it to the NFL, so they put up with his antics and torment because they knew he would give them a good chance to make it to the pros. Once the players are in the pros, however, those tactics are less effective. Add to that the incident at the bar in Ohio and only 13 games into the season, the experiment is over. I am thankful for what he did for Utah, but think he is going to have plenty of time to work on mending fences with Shelley.
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I’m forever grateful for what Urban did here at Utah. I’m equally as grateful that he chose to leave when he did.
My guess is that he’ll lay low for a couple years, then come back either to the college ranks or to the broadcasting booth. I agree with @paqogomez that he is damaged goods right now, but people quickly forget when someone is out of the spotlight for a while.
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We can end the debate. Whitt is the greatest Utah HC.
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I suspect he has substance abuse issues either drugs and/or alcohol.
FTFO!
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I don’t care. I still love him and would take him back in a heartbeat.
What he did at UF running a dirty program probably was done stone cold sober. I don’t know any stories of him at Utah but I sure have heard them from UF and Buckeye friends.
Indeed. Proof There will always be someone willing to hire him.
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Whitt holds all the records and the hardware. Adding a Rose Bowl trophy would be another diamond on what has been a stellar career.
Meyer was a flash in the pan. Two winning seasons, with Ron McBride’s recruits, then off to a higher profile gig.
Meyer gave us less than two years. Whittingham has given us a lifetime.
@BamaFanNKY is right. Give credit where credit is really due.
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There were a couple of bumpy seasons early under KW, but this all turned out better than anyone could have expected.
UM’s ghosts were never really apparent much at Utah, to the public, but wow, even with the championships, things have gone in opposite directions for Utah and for Urban.
2008 was a pivotal year for getting Urban out of the minds of Ute fans. Thanks again to Brian Johnson, Louie Sakoda and Andy Ludwig for that exorcism.
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Bobby Petrino had more wins than Urban starting Joey Harrington.
This was up for debate?
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My biggest thought on Urban getting fired by Jax is, “what took so long?” I suspect the owner was looking for a solid, outside of football markers, reason to fire Urban. I also suspect that Lambo was the proverbial straw for the camel. That does lead to another question, why is the Lambo story coming out now? Why not earlier?
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This tends to be glossed over too often in his pattern of jumping ship when things get going well.
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Time heals. Eventually it will for Urban too.
I guess that’s how he saw the domestic abuse charges and racial charges against his coaches as well.
Moral of this story: More Ted Lasso, less Urban Meyer.
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That’s a shame.
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I just realized Nick Saban is such a softy he might give Urban an analyst job. Ugh
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