USC and UCLA’s eventual move to the Big Ten is causing ripple effects throughout the college football industry, giving many people a chance to analyze the move.
Now, a former National Championship winning head coach has weighed in. Former Florida and Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said he was surprised to see USC and UCLA move away from the Pac-12.
On the first episode of Urban’s Take with Tim May, the former head coach discussed the biggest news of the offseason.
“There was a time where USC was on the pinnacle of college football. Pete Carroll, and I’ll go back further than that, there was the Larry Smith era where they won the Rose Bowl over and over again and way before that you had Terry Donahue at UCLA, the Pac-12 was strong,” Meyer said.
“So I don’t know what the future holds, that was a little shocking, but you know there is no loyalty, this is all fight for yourself and I get it. Money makes the world go round and right now that’s what’s driving all these decisions,”
However, Meyer added that he thinks it was logical for the Big Ten to target two powerhouses on the West Coast.
“I do believe it makes a lot of sense recruiting wise, some of these moves made no sense to me,” he said. “California has such good players, Ohio State and the Wolverines have gone into California recruiting a little bit now it kind of opens the floodgates a little bit. I’m not sure how much UCLA and USC will come out east recruiting, they will a little bit, but there’s so many players out west. I just see the Big Ten hitting California a little harder now.”
After a year in the NFL, Meyer is returning to college football as a Fox Sports analyst, where he is sure to discuss the new Big Ten. And as someone who has had success as a head coach on both coasts, he has a unique view of the California schools moving to the Big Ten.
