Urban Meyer says Ohio State hasn't offered football coaching job

Despite numerous reports saying he is all but set to become Ohio State's next football coach, Urban Meyer said Wednesday that is not the case.

"I have not been offered any job nor is there a deal in place," the former Florida coach said in a statement released through ESPN, for which he is a college football analyst. "I plan on spending Thanksgiving with my family and will not comment on this any further."

Several websites, TV stations and the Columbus Dispatch reported that Meyer has reached an agreement in principle with Ohio State and, barring last-minute problems, will be introduced as the Buckeyes' coach next week.

People within the athletic department and close to the team told the Associated Press the job has not been offered to Meyer and nothing has been completed. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the coaching search is supposed to be confidential. Athletic Director Gene Smith declined to comment Wednesday.

Ohio State, under interim Coach Luke Fickell, plays at No. 17 Michigan on Saturday. Fickell, who some reports have said will be retained on Meyer's staff, declined to address the story, which has been percolating for days.

"No. I won't," he said Wednesday. "It's not about that. I'm going to have enough respect for this football game to make sure it's about this football game. I don't think this is the time and the place."

Speaking briefly to reporters, he was asked if he knew whether a decision on a new coach had been made.

"I know there's a game at noon on Saturday," he said.

Meyer is from Ashtabula and was a graduate assistant at Ohio State under Earle Bruce in the 1980s. He grew up an Ohio State fan and has said he has a portrait of Buckeyes coach Woody Hayes hanging prominently in his home.

In addition to winning national titles in Florida in 2006 and 2008, he has also been a head coach at Bowling Green and Utah and worked as an assistant at Notre Dame, Colorado State and Illinois State.

He announced in December 2009 he was stepping away from coaching because of health concerns, but quickly changed his mind. After taking a leave of absence, he returned to the sidelines for the 2010 season and then retired again in December.

Alabama Coach Nick Saban said he would welcome Meyer back into the coaching fraternity.

"Urban Meyer is a very good coach, he's a good teacher. He's good for young people," Saban said on the Southeastern Conference coaches conference call this week. "If coaching is in his heart, I think that's what he should do."

Saban said he understood why Meyer had apparently changed his mind about returning to coaching.

"As you go through life and you do things and you make choices and decisions about what you do — and I know his involved circumstances around his health — but still you learn about yourself in everything you do," Saban said. "As you learn these things, sometimes things change in terms of what his direction is. I think everybody has to do that, and I don't think anybody should be criticized for that."

Jim Tressel was pressured to resign May 30 after 10 years as the coach of the Buckeyes. His downfall came about when it was learned that he knew that several of his players had accepted cash and tattoos from tattoo parlor, the focus of a federal drug-trafficking investigation. Ohio State is awaiting NCAA penalties stemming from several violations.

Fickell, a defensive assistant coach for nine years, was promoted to head coach.

Hawaii coach declines to comment 

Hawaii Coach Greg McMackin said he has been asked not to comment about allegations that some players have been involved in point-shaving.

The university said Tuesday the admissions office received an anonymous letter Nov. 3 accusing unnamed players of intentionally playing poorly to affect the final score as part of a gambling scheme. Honolulu police and the NCAA were notified after the university received the letter, but police have said there isn't enough information for a criminal investigation.

McMackin directed questions to university spokeswoman Lynne Waters, who wouldn't comment Wednesday on whether the university would conduct an investigation. On Tuesday, she declined to say whether the anonymous letter referred to current members of the football team or incidents alleged to have happened in previous years.

Also on Wednesday, the NCAA said it was "extremely concerned" by the allegations and has been in contact with the school since early this month.

"We take any allegation of point shaving very seriously as it is a crime that threatens two core NCAA principles — the well-being of student-athletes and the very integrity of intercollegiate sport," a statement said.

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