Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel endorse Ohio governor John Kasich

The Ohio Primary just got a little more interesting, as Ohio Governor John Kasich secured the endorsement from one of the most important people in the entire state. Not a Senator, not even another politician. Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer has endorsed the governor, and appeared in a video where he implored the Govenor to "win the darn thing."

Per Hugh Hewitt, Meyer isn't the only member of Buckeye royalty to endorse Kasich. Former Ohio State coach, and current president of Youngstown State University, is also endorsing Kasich.

@OSUCoachMeyer joins @JimTressel5 in endorsing @johnkasich. Assuming Woody from above makes it Father, Son and Holy Ghost of Ohio 4 Kasich

— Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) March 10, 2016

The endorsement comes as a bit of a surprise. When the Toledo Blade asked Meyer if he planned on sharing his thoughts on the election a few weeks ago, Meyer was clear that he had no intentions of giving an endorsement. Via the Blade:

"No, my job description is very clear and that's to coach Ohio State football and the focus is on 17 to 18 to 22-year-olds," Mr. Meyer said. "I have strong beliefs, but I'm not going to share that with you guys. I don't think that's appropriate."

An aversion to getting directly engaged in politics is not unique among big time college football coaches, as the Blade points out. But perhaps the inclusion of Tressel, the importance of Ohio's primary, or other factors encouraged Meyer and others to change their mind.

At an earlier rally in Columbus, Donald Trump said that Urban Meyer had said "nice things about him", even though "he wasn't sure if he had endorsed him or not." The above video should clear up that bit of confusion.