Citing the former Florida coach’s agent, ESPN reported Monday morning that Urban Meyer has accepted the job of head coach at Ohio State.
As it turns out, the agent, Trace Armstrong, has taken issue with the report.
Speaking to Dennis Doddof CBSSports.com, Armstrong would not confirm that Meyer has accepted the OSU job.“I can’t,” Armstrong told CBSSports.com “There’s no hangup. I’ve got to leave it at that out of respect to Urban and the school. This is not my style to be out there in public like this. It’s to be discreet. Those folks [ESPN] have made a decision. I’m so disappointed that ESPN would go forward with something like this.”
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“In the spirit, we’ve tried to keep them in the loop, they’ve jumped the gun a couple of times. It’s most unfortunate.”
Here’s a handy translation: Armstrong informed Meyer’s current employer, ESPN, of the impending hire as a professional courtesy, but did not want the news out there -- particularly with the news attached to him specifically as it was -- until the current coaching staff and the players were informed that Meyer was taking over the program. The two groups are expected to meet with athletic director Gene Smith at some point this morning and into the early afternoon.
Despite this latest twist to the Meyer/OSU saga, the Buckeyes are expected to officially announce Meyer’s hiring as early as today.
UPDATED 10:56 a.m. ET: The latest are that a press conference will be held at 5-6 p.m. ET this evening. The school has neither confirmed the hiring nor announced a press conference.
