Columnist Steve Guiremand: Meyer might do best to stay put

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Nov. 26, 2004 | 9:34 a.m.

Steve Guiremand covers college football for the Sun. He can be reached at steveg@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-2324.

Utah head coach Urban Meyer is probably getting a lot of advice these days from friends and colleagues.

Should he stay at Utah, where he could be in the process of building a mid-major (sorry, Craig Thompson) dynasty? Or should he head off and make about three times as much money at prestigious BCS powers such as Florida or Washington?

Meyer is the hottest name in college coaching these days, and for good reason. He has cracked what many people thought to be the unbreakable BCS code with an 11-0 season this year. And he did it with tremendous flare as the Utes offense, led by junior quarterback Alex Smith, embarrassed teams such as Texas A&M, North Carolina and BYU on national TV.

I guess you can say you hit the big-time when ESPN's "College GameDay" crew decides to do a pregame show in the snow from your stadium's parking lot. Wouldn't it be nice to see them show up outside sunny Sam Boyd Stadium one day? Or, better yet, at an on-campus stadium?

But if I'm Urban Meyer, I think I'd stick around Salt Lake City for at least another year.

One, Meyer is an Ohio native who seems better suited for the Big Ten or Notre Dame. Florida, although it has great weather and even better football prospects, may not be too friendly to a northerner, especially if the Gators were to lose to Georgia a few times.

Two, Washington is great job with great facilities and fan support but comes with its share of baggage after the Rick Neuheisel/Keith Gilbertson fiasco. And trying to rebuild the Huskies won't happen overnight, especially as long as Pete Carroll stays at USC, Jeff Tedford is at Cal and Mike Bellotti and Mike Riley are running Oregon and Oregon State, respectively.

And third, if Meyer returns to Utah along with Smith, and red-hot offensive cordinator Mike Sanford is bypassed by UNLV for its head coaching position, the Utes will be in position for another banner season in 2005.

And just look at what jobs could be available after next season: Ohio State (if NCAA gumshoes can substantiate any of Maurice Clarett's allegations), Colorado (AD Dick Tharp's resignation under pressure can't be a good sign for Gary Barnett), Texas (you can only lose the Red River shootout so many times), Penn State, UCLA and Notre Dame.

Can you say bidding war?

Ohio State and Notre Dame are both jobs on Meyer's dream list and would seem to be much better fits. So would Penn State if Joe Paterno doesn't have a say in who his successor is.

So although most coaches in Meyer's position would probably go while the getting is good, I think it might be better to wait until next year. What does he have to fear in the Mountain West Conference anyway? New Mexico? Wyoming? San Diego State?

Of course, it's easy for me to say. I'm not the one who will have a $15 million package sitting in front of him soon.

Rumor mill

Urban Meyer may not have to wait another year for the Notre Dame job if the Fighting Irish get blown out as expected against USC on Saturday night. Rumors out of South Bend say athletic director Kevin White may be ready to pull the plug on the Tyrone Willingham era after just three years if the Irish get embarrassed by the Trojans again and finish just 6-5. ...

Word is 30 to 40 heavyweight Cal boosters are being asked to kick in around $50,000 each to put together a $2 million-a-year package to keep Jeff Tedford from moving up the coast to Seattle. ...

Stanford (Buddy Teevens) and BYU (Gary Crowton) are expected to make head coaching changes any minute. The Cardinal reportedly will make a run at USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow while the Cougars, who had their sights set on Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid before he signed an extension recently, will likely go after Utah defensive coordinator and Provo native Kyle Whittingham.

Ten-hut!

It appears the honeymoon between Chris Ault, a k a "The Little General," and UNR fans may be already over after the Wolf Pack stumbled again the final month of the season. Neveda-Reno is 5-6 heading into a Saturday home finale against unbeaten Boise State, which will only be trying to impress voters so it can sneak into a BCS bowl game.

After the Wolf Pack lost to Fresno State, 54-17, last week, the Reno Gazette-Journal's talented beat writer, Chad Hartley, gave a thumbs down to Ault for his coaching performance this year.

Wrote Hartley: "This Nevada team has underachieved this year, period. But to listen to the Nevada coach, the blame lies with the players not executing or the players not playing physical enough or the assistant coaches messed up or Chris Tormey recruited the wrong players or the officials have it out for him ... you get the picture. Someone messed up, but never Ault.

"At some point, the blame has to go to the guy in charge. This Pack team should be better than its 5-6 record. It should have won at least two road games (he wouldn't be talking about UNLV, would he?). Instead, the Pack will have another nonwinning season. Who is accountable for that?"

Hartley also hammered Ault for his coaching tactics. Ault was seen on TV during a loss at Hawaii shoving an assistant, had his top Reno-area recruit quit before the first game, and reportedly had star placekicker Damon Fine stay out at halftime instead of coming into the locker room so that he could practice after missing a kick.

"Sure, perhaps some of the players within the program are not suited to Ault's brash, in-your-face style of coaching," Hartley wrote. "But in the eight years that Ault was not on the sidelines, kids have changed. The kinds of players who excel with that kind of coaching are few and far between. Which means Ault either has to adjust or he has to start turning over every rock to find his style of players."