Lloyd Carr, the head coach of the men’s football team at the University of Michigan, seemed to have a gripe against Coach Urban at UF. He seems to think that some of the things Mr Meyer had to say while he was “politicing” for his team the last couple of weeks were “inappropriate.”
Let’s break down what Urban Meyer has said. Here’s an excerpt from an interview with media a couple of weeks ago…
“I think that would be unfair to Ohio State, and I think it would be unfair to the country,” Meyer said of a possible rematch with Michigan. “I just don’t believe that’s the right thing to do. You’ve got to tell Ohio State to go beat the same team twice, which is extremely difficult . . .
“I think (the Wolverines) had their chance; someone else gets it (next). Ohio State is No. 1. Someone else has a chance to go get No. 1.”
Alright, those are some pretty strong words. But inappropriate? If you’re a Michigan fan, they’re pretty close to fighting words… but if you are a Michigan fan, and Lloyd Carr said something similar about the Gators, would you still think they were inappropriate? What about these circumstances make Meyer’s statements improper? If it is inappropriate, why? Is it wrong for a coach to give voice to his opinion that his team deserves a shot at a title game – perhaps more so than another team? If we didn’t have this crazy system of crowning a champion based largely on opinion, Meyer probably wouldn’t be talking at all – beyond saying he’s doing his best to prepare for the next game.
In fact, given that we have a championship by election, I think it’s inappropriate for Mr Carr NOT to voice his opinion… to campaign for his team. In my view, by not speaking up sooner he’s let his team down.
Then again, given his record against Ohio State (1-5 the last six years that Jim Tressel has coached OSU, and 6-6 over all), it’s not the first time he’s let Michigan down.
**Author’s note: in Mr Carr’s defense, Spurrier was a good coach at UF too, but he had a big problem beating coaches with the last name Bowden.
**Author’s second note: despite conventional wisdom, this year’s controversy will not bring about a playoff, or bring one any closer. If my suspicions are correct, Fox got some big fat ratings out of this year’s BCS show… meaning they probably got some premium ad-coin, and will be paying out correspondingly big bucks to college football for the rights. Instead of making a playoff more likely, I think it’s made it LESS likely.