Michigan State football: 3 pros and 3 cons for Urban Meyer as head coach

Con: The dude is kind of a scumbag

Controversy seems to follow Urban Meyer wherever he goes. 31 players were arrested in his six years as head coach in Florida with little consequence for these infractions. Allegations ranged from the classic “minor in possession of alcohol” to more serious stuff like domestic assault and fraudulent use of credit cards. A lot of these charges were magically dismissed, a very popular option when it comes to SEC football players.

Stuff like that won’t fly at Michigan State.

They are already under a microscope with how dysfunctional the administration is, on top of the Nassar scandal (whether it’s fair to bring that up during a football coaching search is irrelevant in the eyes of Detroit media), and now the Mel Tucker fiasco.

There are also his own off-field discretions. The rumor is that his “health issues” at Florida was a mask for his wife essentially making him leave Gainesville because of his relationship with a young staffer, but that was never confirmed. He also has been caught on video getting extremely friendly with a woman in a Columbus bar who was definitely not his wife.

But they don’t give out trophies for being a good guy, they give out trophies for winning games. The national media got away with showing Tom Izzo and Larry Nassar on the same graphic and had the audacity to question his character based on already closed cases and the secondhand gossip of a former staffer.

Look around the college landscape. Auburn’s Hugh Freeze was caught calling an escort service multiple times while being the head coach at Ole Miss, then lied about it. Texas A&M’s offensive coordinator got in a motorcycle crash with a former Arkansas volleyball player riding on the back, then admitted to having an affair with her.

College football is full of second chance/third chance/fourth chance coaches and players. It’s a business, and winning cures all.