Updated MAY 17, 2015 2:38p ET When Urban Meyer returned to college football as head coach at Ohio State in late 2011, two questions dominated the conversation: Did he still have what made him a national championship leader at Florida, and could he maintain it without sacrificing his relationship with his family and his health? He answered the first four months ago when Meyer’s Buckeyes beat Alabama and then Oregon in the inaugural College Football Playoff. The Toledo Blade offered an answer to the latter Sunday after speaking to various people in Meyer’s life, including his wife, Shelley, and OSU director of athletics Gene Smith. “He’s demonstrated that he’s changed,” Smith told The Blade, admitting no one knew for sure if the coach would be able to follow through on his promises to maintain a balanced life when he was hired. Shelley Meyer indicated any lingering fears for her were alleviated with her husband’s reaction to a 35-21 loss to Virginia Tech in early September. That was the third loss for the Buckeyes in four games — a stretch that followed a 24-game winning streak to begin Meyer’s tenure at Ohio State. “He was the one who even that night was saying, ‘We’re going to be OK. This team is going to get better. We’re so young,'” Shelley Meyer recalled. “Immediately, he was positive, on the upswing. I was really shocked, actually. Shocked.” What’s the difference? Well, aside from perspective gained from time and experience, returning to the state where he grew up is a big factor, too. “Ohio is where he’s comfortable,” Shelley Meyer said. “Ohio State has been his school since he was 2 years old. We loved Florida, and he loved Florida and loved coaching there and loved all those players. But that’s not where he was from.
Continue Reading: Meyer maintaining life balance at Ohio State
