As Urban Meyer and Nick Saban strolled to the first tee at the Reynolds Plantation resort on Lake Oconee just outside of Atlanta on Tuesday, college football’s biggest coaching rivals found themselves in agreement.
“This pairing didn’t happen by mistake,” Jeff Logan recalled both the Ohio State and Alabama head coaches saying.
No, it certainly didn’t, as Meyer teamed up with Logan, a former Buckeyes running back, and Saban reunited with 2009 Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram to take part in the 2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Challenge. With 13 universities represented by a head coach and celebrity alumni, the annual golf charity event admittedly selected its pairings to highlight preexisiting rivalries.
And just four months removed from their showdown in the Sugar Bowl and the College Football Playoff, there wasn’t a pairing that drew more attention on the tournament’s front nine holes than the one featuring a combined seven national championships between the head coaches.
“There were a lot of eyes focused on Ohio State and Alabama, I can promise you that,” Logan said.
Unlike their battle in the Bayou on New Year’s Day, it was the Crimson Tide who walked away victorious against the Buckeyes on Tuesday, scoring a six-under par on the front nine, compared to Meyer and Logan’s four-under. Saban and Ingram would go on to lose to Team Georgia Tech—football coach Paul Johnson and former basketball star Jon Barry—in a four-hole playoff, although Meyer and…
Continue Reading: Inside a Round of Golf with Urban Meyer and Nick Saban
