Urban Meyer has harsh words for media pushing Braxton Miller transfer

Urban Meyer has been a busy guy lately, with winning a national championship, diving headfirst into the finish of the 2015 recruiting class, and now wrapping up national signing day. Now that the dust has settled, Meyer had a chance to chat with Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman and Stewart Mandel on their podcast, to discuss a wide range of issues.

Perhaps the most interesting was Urban's thoughts on the media's role in the Braxton Miller situation. Miller, of course, has been linked to various other schools in reports, even though Miller hasn't said anything publicly about transferring. Meyer was asked about whether it was frustrating to see so many people trying to "recruit" Miller away from Ohio State, and he had some harsh words for media figures:

There are people in the media that work in some high power positions that I guess are having conversations with our players about transferring. And I spent a year at ESPN and I can't imagine...that's not acceptable....if anybody in the media is having conversations with one of your players about transferring than that person don't belong in the media any more, and certainly won't have access to your program. Those are things you have to be very leery of.

Urban reiterated that he isn't against the idea of a 5th year player leaving or going pro, but indicated that it should be a family decision, not one where third parties, or "third uncles" interfere.

Among the other interesting tidbits to come from the podcast appearance:

On whether Ohio State enjoyed a bump on the recruiting trail for the 2015 class thanks to their national championship:

From Wisconsin on, it was an infomercial about The Ohio State University. So all of that advertisement, and obviously the playoff...it was incredible momentum....K.J Hill, Isaiah Prince, Mike Weber, the closing we did {on National Signing Day} was a direct reflection of the success that we had.

On why Ohio State signed so many offensive lineman in the class of 2015, and whether he expects any of them to fight for spots on the two-deep immediately:

If you look at the sizes of the guys we brought on, they're very long...6-6, 6-7, 6-9....and we're extremely short at tackle. Taylor Decker will be out next year, and he's a potential first round draft pick, and we're still not sure who the starting right tackle may be, and we're very thin at the tackle position. And it's actually perfect, since I anticipate that an Isaiah Prince could get in the rotation...that's perfect. If you can get a guy that can come in there, a little like we did with Taylor Decker, get in the rotation, play a little bit, and be a second year starting left tackle. There are a couple of guys that need some work, but they're exactly the body types that we're looking for. I'm really impressed with Branden Bowen...he's got the NFL body that you're looking for.

On how Torrance Gibson fits in, and if he could move around at other positions before he plays quarterback:

"He's got an incredible skillset. He's unpolished in certain areas, but that's fine, that's our job. I think his high school coaches did a phenomenal job with him. He's a state champion, which we look for."

On Cardale Jones' decision to stay at Ohio State and not go pro:

When we got home, somebody asks me if Cardale is staying or going, and I thought, 'where's he going?' I didn't even think twice about the NFL since he's only played three games. So I changed my plans that day, flew up to spend time with Ted Ginn and him, and he (Cardale) decided right away. That was all him. He said, 'I'm not ready, and I want to get my degree.' And so I think the media made a huge deal out of it.

On a kid in this recruiting class that isn't as highly rated but could be a major impact player:

Dre'Mont Jones is a guy...Mark Pantoni told me 'wait til you see this kid'. He committed in the summer and he's a very good player. He's from one of the great programs nationally (St.Ignatius  in Cleveland) and had just a phenomenal year. The defensive line is where we're behind, and he can help us, big time.....our linebacker position, three years ago, was not good. We had injuries, we had mistakes, we had a lot of things going on there, and now, with Josh Perry and Raekwon McMillan and Darron Lee, and Chris Worley and Donte Booker...and now you add these three kids (Jerome Baker, Nick Connor and Justin Hilliard), and you have an Ohio State linebacker crew like you had back in the day with Hawk, and Bobby Carpenter, and those guys. Now obviously, we got to develop them. But they look the part, they're athletic, they can run, and I'm really fired up over those guys.

The entire podcast can be listened to below: