Urban Meyer appeared on tonight's ESPN SportsCenter's Sunday Conversation in which College GameDay's Chris Fowler, who was in Columbus a few weeks back, discusses all things Ohio State football in 2013, discipline, the biggest problems plaguing college football today, and much more.
A few of the key talking points:
On why he's such a magnet for criticism :"That's a good question. I get asked that often. I don't know. I used to worry about it."
On receiving quiet criticism from his peers "I don't know about that one... Is that right? I didn't know that... Well I'm very surprised."
But on if he'd hold his own in an all college football head coaches fight club "You're darn right I'd hold my own."
On why he's suspending players when they've been cleared by the law and what message he's trying to send in doing so: "I want to make sure our [discipline] is harder than anybody in America. Not to prove a point. Quite honestly, I'm tired of dealing with it...I hold our coaches accountable for behavior."
On college athletes and discipline: "I think that's been a thing since the beginning of time and civilization. If they know there's a very hash punishment at the end of that behavior, they won't do that behavior...I think it works. That's why people don't rob banks."
Regarding the biggest problems in the sport today "There's an issue in college athletics. Certain substance things I see. It's non-stop. That's an issue right now in college sports....Marijuana. I see it not just in college football, I see it everywhere. That's an issue."
When Fowler countered by saying it's decriminalized/legalized in certain jurisdictions: "I hear that debate all the time. 'What's the difference with a 17 year old having a beer?' But that's illegal. Last I checked, we're not in the business of making laws, we just have to abide by them and set the tempo."
When Fowler points out and asks "You'll have no more than 72 scholarship players in the opener; is that a concern?" Meyer: "Yeah, that's a concern anytime. I know we've had some injuries and we have 3 or 4 that have to sit for a game or two. Yeah, that's a game or two, I hadn't realized that... We have some serious depth issues. After you threw that stat at me, I've been so busy I hadn't noticed that. I'm going to lose some sleep over it."