Urban Meyer says his coaching career was nearly derailed by religion.
The former Utah, Florida and Ohio State coach recently revealed that he was close to walking away from the Buckeyes when he faced a faith-related legal issue.
The trouble began when Meyer, who is vocal about his faith, shared his intention to organize a weekly church service for his Ohio State players.
“The whole week, players don’t have time to go to church, so I was going to bring church to them,” he explained during a Life Surge event this month at a church in Columbus, Ohio.
But then a school attorney told him that such gatherings weren’t possible, since they would violate laws related to the separation of church and state.
Meyer said he didn’t accept that answer, so Gene Smith, who was then the Ohio State athletic director, got involved.
“I said, ‘Gene, we’re doing this. And if not, you’ve gotta let me go,’” Meyer recalled.
Meyer said he and school officials were able to move forward together by changing the name and description of his religion-related event.
“The compromise was that we had to call it ‘reflection,’” Meyer said, as Fox News previously reported.
Religious freedom conflict in sports
The Ohio State attorney wasn’t imagining the possibility of legal trouble.
Several college sports programs have been threatened with lawsuits over faith-based events, including Deion Sanders at Colorado.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a watchdog for religious freedom issues, has contacted Colorado administrators multiple times about Sanders’ apparent interest in making prayer a part of team culture, as the Deseret News has reported.
Among other moves, Coach Prime, as he’s commonly known, has had his own spiritual adviser work with the team.
One of the letters from the foundation led Colorado to give Sanders additional training on when religious expression is appropriate in 2023.
“Coach Sanders was very receptive to this training and came away from it with a better understanding of the University of Colorado’s policies and the requirements of the Establishment Clause,” said Patrick T. O’Rourke, who was then the school’s executive vice chancellor and chief operating officer.
Meyer himself was on the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s radar in 2012.
The organization contacted Ohio State about the coach after The Columbus Dispatch ran a story about his interest in leading Bible studies and chapel services for players.
E. Gordon Gee, who was then the president of Ohio State, told the foundation that it was a misunderstanding.
“I certainly agree that publicly funded institutions cannot support, promote or endorse religion. I want to be clear that coach Meyer does not conduct Bible studies or chapel services for the players,” Gee wrote in a letter, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
Gee said Meyer had been misquoted. The Columbus Dispatch stood by its reporting.
Where is Urban Meyer now?
Before he worked at Ohio State, Meyer led Utah football to an undefeated season and Florida to two national championship titles.
He coached the Buckeyes from 2012 to 2018 and claimed the national championship with them in 2014.
Meyer then led the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars for one turbulent year.
Meyer now lives in Sarasota, Florida, and works as a college football analyst for Fox Sports.