Urban Meyer challenges Big Ten rivals to improve their recruiting (Yahoo! Sports)

Urban Meyer guided Ohio State to a 12-0 record last season. (AP)

Urban Meyer is so competitive that he once put together an epic 25-1 run at Florida, which included capturing his second national title in three seasons. Yet when he finally lost the 2009 SEC title game, the distress from the meat grinder was so intense he wound up in the hospital with heart problems.

Meyer then quit, for a day, only to return for another season. He quit again, took a year off, accepted the Ohio State job, went 12-0 and signed a consensus top-three recruiting class in his first full-year effort.

The man knows only one way to go, full-throttle and with fists closed. He’ll apologize for none of it. He’ll expect the same from everyone else, including, apparently, his peers in the Big Ten, who he doesn’t think are pulling their weight. Forget just coaching his team, he’s concerned about the other 11 programs, too.

Speaking on the Bishop and Rothman Show on 97.1 FM in Columbus on Thursday, Meyer called out most of the Big Ten after many conference schools fared poorly in recruiting this year.

The Big Ten, Meyer said, has to step it up.

“It’s not only important, it’s essential,” Meyer said. “It has to happen.”

And that is about the most Urban Meyer thing Urban Meyer could say, even if it will likely go over like a SEC banner flapping on a Midwest campus.

While Michigan also signed a highly regarded class (ranked fifth nationally by Rivals.com), Nebraska (17th) was the only other Big Ten school to rank in the top-35 classes nationally according to Rivals.com. Other than the Wolverines and Buckeyes, only Penn State landed a coveted five-star recruit.

Continue Reading: Urban Meyer challenges Big Ten rivals to improve their recruiting (Yahoo! Sports)