Alabama Football: Urban Meyer out of Nick Saban shadow in NFL

Alabama Football: Urban Meyer can avoid the frequent comparisons and Nick Saban’s shadow as a Head Coach in the NFL.

Not many years ago, Alabama Football coach, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer were considered by many as coaching equals. Some claimed in a head-to-head comparison, Urban Meyer topped Nick Saban.

Directly head-to-head, on the basis of four games, the pair were 2-2 during the 2008-2014 seasons. An LSU team, not coached by Nick Saban, but built by him, also beat Meyer in 2007. It can be argued Meyer won the biggest of the four games against Saban in the 2014 College Football Playoff semi-final. The four Alabama football teams beat three Gators’ teams and one Buckeyes’ team by a combined score of 118-91, including a 31-6 thrashing in Tuscaloosa in 2010.

Meyer’s Ohio State record over seven seasons was 83-9. That 90.2 win percentage surpasses Nick Saban’s Alabama football career, 88.1 win percentage. If the comparison of Saban’s last 10 Crimson Tide seasons is used, Nick has a 91.4 win percentage.

Any argument about Meyer being better than Saban ends with National Championship history. In 17 seasons, Meyer has three National Championships; at Florida in 2006 and 2008, plus Ohio State in 2014. As all Alabama football fans know and 99.999 percent of all college football fans know, Nick Saban has seven National Championships over the course of 25 seasons.

A Buckeye fan could argue if Meyer had another eight seasons coaching in Columbus, he would match Saban’s National Championship record. Not many college football fans would agree. Even if that contention is still theoretically possible sometime in the future, Meyer’s career, longevity history indicates it will never happen.

Urban Meyer walked away from Gainesville only two seasons after a National Championship. He left Columbus four seasons after the Buckeyes’ 2014 National Championship. Questions about his proclivity to quit are legitimate.

More than just Alabama football fans believe competing against Nick Saban broke Meyer’s spirit after the 2008 Florida season. While the Gators beat the Crimson Tide in the 2008 SEC Championship, it was a tough game. It was apparent to everyone, Saban had the rising team of the future in the SEC. The follow-up match a season later was dominated by the Crimson Tide.

In 2010, in Tuscaloosa, Nick Saban slammed a closing SEC door in Urban Meyer’s face. The game summary published by the Associated Press provided a clear-eyed assessment.

"When the latest edition of the super heavyweight rivalry between Alabama and Florida was over, the two star coaches met at midfield for a handshake, a pat on the back and a few quick words.They didn’t need to say much.Maybe Alabama’s Nick Saban and Florida’s Urban Meyer will meet again this season. But for now there is no question as to the King of the Southeastern Conference.This game was all Alabama."

Urban Meyer rebuilt his tarnished reputation at Ohio State. His seven-season record and the 2014 National Championship provided redemption for what Nick Saban did to him in the SEC. Had he chosen a return to college coaching in 2021, he would legitimately be considered one of the top two or three coaches in the game.

He didn’t make that choice. Opting instead for the NFL gives him a chance to do something Nick Saban has not done – be a successful NFL Head Coach. The ultra-competitive NFL chews up coaches with great frequency, but for Urban Meyer, it is safer than a college football world owned by Nick Saban.

Urban Meyer is a great football coach. His career does not merit GOAT status and one reason why is he does not have the stick-with-it-ness of Nick Saban.