Article from South Bend paper on Urban Meyer.
Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 2:29 pm
Article from South Bend paper on Urban Meyer. To which I ask: which one of our players was it?
Meyer carries a love for ND
By TEDDY GREENSTEIN
Chicago Tribune
SALT LAKE CITY -- Urban Meyer remembers the scene so vividly he even can recall the date: Jan. 18, 2000.
Meyer, then Notre Dame's receivers coach, was at South Bend Regional Airport to meet a blue-chip recruit from Jacksonville, Fla., named Gus Scott.
"He was going to commit to us," Meyer says. "Then he got off the plane and that wind was blowing and he looked at me like I had six heads.
"Obviously he went to Florida."
Scott went on to have a solid career as a safety at Florida and was the New England Patriots' third-round pick in the 2004 draft.
Despite such memories, Meyer has great affection for Notre Dame and its place in the college football landscape.
"It's the purest form of college athletics and it always will be," he said.
Meyer said that while other schools cater to recruits -- bragging about dorm rooms with couches and big-screen TVs -- Notre Dame keeps it simple by stressing football and top-notch academics.
"And that's why those kids are so successful after football," he says. "If you want to see what college athletics are for, go fly into South Bend.
"But because of the immediacy of winning, it has probably hurt Notre Dame a little bit. The great skilled athletes, I recruited them for four, five years. Everybody says you just select (recruits), but you have to work harder at recruiting at Notre Dame than anywhere else."
Part of the reason is geography.
"You have to go to Florida and beat Florida and Florida State, go to Texas and beat Texas and Texas A&M," Meyer says. "Everybody has their home base, but Indiana is not strong enough. You can't sign 20 kids out of Indiana. Maybe you sign one."
Lou Holtz hired Meyer in 1996 and the two remain very close. Meyer calls former Irish coach Bob Davie "one of my best friends."
But it's Holtz who still intimidates him.
"When he calls me, I get a little sweat bead on my forehead," Meyer says. "We talk at least every other week."
The two will discuss plays from each other's games or the best way to handle problems. Meyer also likes to thumb through Holtz's 400-page coaching manual from South Carolina.
"I had a kid test positive for marijuana at Bowling Green," Meyer says. "I was so mad. ... Lou was the first person I called. He's a great mentor."
Meyer carries a love for ND
By TEDDY GREENSTEIN
Chicago Tribune
SALT LAKE CITY -- Urban Meyer remembers the scene so vividly he even can recall the date: Jan. 18, 2000.
Meyer, then Notre Dame's receivers coach, was at South Bend Regional Airport to meet a blue-chip recruit from Jacksonville, Fla., named Gus Scott.
"He was going to commit to us," Meyer says. "Then he got off the plane and that wind was blowing and he looked at me like I had six heads.
"Obviously he went to Florida."
Scott went on to have a solid career as a safety at Florida and was the New England Patriots' third-round pick in the 2004 draft.
Despite such memories, Meyer has great affection for Notre Dame and its place in the college football landscape.
"It's the purest form of college athletics and it always will be," he said.
Meyer said that while other schools cater to recruits -- bragging about dorm rooms with couches and big-screen TVs -- Notre Dame keeps it simple by stressing football and top-notch academics.
"And that's why those kids are so successful after football," he says. "If you want to see what college athletics are for, go fly into South Bend.
"But because of the immediacy of winning, it has probably hurt Notre Dame a little bit. The great skilled athletes, I recruited them for four, five years. Everybody says you just select (recruits), but you have to work harder at recruiting at Notre Dame than anywhere else."
Part of the reason is geography.
"You have to go to Florida and beat Florida and Florida State, go to Texas and beat Texas and Texas A&M," Meyer says. "Everybody has their home base, but Indiana is not strong enough. You can't sign 20 kids out of Indiana. Maybe you sign one."
Lou Holtz hired Meyer in 1996 and the two remain very close. Meyer calls former Irish coach Bob Davie "one of my best friends."
But it's Holtz who still intimidates him.
"When he calls me, I get a little sweat bead on my forehead," Meyer says. "We talk at least every other week."
The two will discuss plays from each other's games or the best way to handle problems. Meyer also likes to thumb through Holtz's 400-page coaching manual from South Carolina.
"I had a kid test positive for marijuana at Bowling Green," Meyer says. "I was so mad. ... Lou was the first person I called. He's a great mentor."
