Ohio State Hires Greg Schiano: Is Urban Meyer On His Way Out?

Images via Zimbio

Last week ChatSports set the sports world abuzz with a supposed “exclusive” in which several of their “most trusted sources” revealed that Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam was preparing to offer Ohio State’s Urban Meyer the “largest coaching contract in NFL history,” in addition to a potential ownership stake in the franchise.

The story was too juicy not to be picked up, but its (outside the mainstream media) origin and the fact that Meyer immediately dismissed the report as erroneous, denying any interest in the job, made its content seem dubious at best. After all, this was only his fourth year in Columbus, where things have been going quite well for the Buckeyes’ football program.

But if there’s anything Bobby Petrino and Nick Saban have taught us, it’s that a coach’s employment situation is as fluid as his word. While it seemed reasonable enough to take Meyer at his word last week, the situation in Columbus has just changed dramatically.

On Friday Ohio State announced the hire of former Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano, who last coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2013, to serve as defensive coordinator. He’s being brought in to replace Chris Ash, who actually accepted the top job at Rutgers earlier this week.

So how does this impact Meyer’s employment status? Well, Schiano was also named the Buckeyes’ associate head coach. Already considered among the greatest college coaches ever, if not the single greatest, it’s hard to imagine there’s a need, let alone a want, on Meyer’s part to start sharing carries, so to speak, with Schiano.

Given the recent report about his potential departure and the exact nature the Schiano hire, it’s not much of a leap to put Meyer in Cleveland come 2016. Especially if the supposed deal Haslam is putting together is anywhere near as lucrative as stated.

Of course, all of this will remain conjecture until January. Ohio State will finish their season on New Year’s Day, when they’ll take on Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. The Browns carnival of human misery will mercifully come to a close when they presumably lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers on January 3rd.

Expect the biggest story of Black Monday (January 4th) to be a blockbuster deal that puts Urban Meyer at the helm in Cleveland, Greg Schiano taking over in Columbus, and puts Mike Pettine out on his ass.