Urban Meyer spent over 40 years in the world of college football. From being a player to a graduate assistant to a head coach to an analyst, Meyer knows college football better than almost anybody out there.
So, when he feels like it's time to voice his opinion about a hot topic, his thoughts should, more likely than not, be taken seriously.
After James Franklin was fired by Penn State, Meyer voiced a theory he had on the future of the Nittany Lions' football program, and a possible plan that PSU had in place before they actually fired its former head coach.
"When you fire a coach whose record was 104-45, was in the Rose Bowl, Peach Bowl, and [was] a score away from playing a national championship, and 16 days ago could be possibly the No. 1 team in the country," Meyer said. "I don’t think you make that move with a $75 million expense coming unless you know who you’re going to hire."
Did PSU already have a plan in place when James Franklin was fired?
It makes sense if you take a beat to think it through. Why would a program fire a head coach who had won nearly 70 percent, taken the team to numerous bowl victories, and was just coming off a deep run in the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoffs, especially midway through the season?
While there are dozens, if not hundreds, of guesses as to who will replace Franklin in State College, it could very easily be true that they had a succession plan in place long before he was actually fired.
Meyer continued by sharing a sneak peek at the interworkings of college football's hiring and firing process:
"When you fire a guy at Virginia Tech, Arkansas, UCLA to a degree, they hire a search firm,” Meyer said. “The search firm goes out and, behind the scenes, talks to some candidates. Then, the search firm puts together a list, and they give it back to the athletic directors, president, search committee, whatever it is. The reason they do that is because those kinds of schools, you have to go out and search who’s interested. Those aren’t top-10, top-5 jobs. Penn State’s a whole different animal.”
Meyer would undeniably understand the process of finding a new college football head coach, having been the HC at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida, and Ohio State over a 17-year-long stretch. So, maybe, just maybe, he's right about the Nittany Lions already having a plan in place.
Also read: 3 current head coaches who Penn State is most likely to contact first
For now, Terry Smith is serving as Penn State's interim head coach, after 11 years as the cornerbacks' coach and nine years as the program's associate head coach.