COLUMBUS — One day during his brief haiatus from coaching, Urban Meyer admitted something to his wife, Shelley, while the couple were taking a walk.

“I don’t think I can do this,” Meyer said of being away from football coaching.
Starting today, he won’t have to. At least for the next six years.

Meyer ended his self-imposed break from coaching on Monday by agreeing to a six-year contract to become the 24th head football coach in Ohio State history.

“There’s a right time for certain leaders,” OSU athletic director Gene Smith said. “This is the right time for Urban Meyer to lead this football team ... He gets it.”

A 47-year old native of Ashtabula, and former assistant on coach Earle Bruce’s OSU staff in the 1980s, Meyer succeeds interim coach Luke Fickell, whose team finished the regular season at 6-6 with a 40-34 loss at Michigan last Saturday.

Fickell will remain on Meyer’s staff as an assistant coach, though Meyer did not divulge if he would be defensive coordinator or a postion coach.

“ESPN has been an exceptional experience,” said Meyer, who spent his off-year from coaching as an analyst for the station.

“If it wasn’t for the coaching position at The Ohio State University, I would not have coached this coming year.”

Meyer will be paid a base salary of $4 million. Additionally, he will receive supplemental compensation bonuses based on milestones, academic accomplishments for the football team and retention payments of $450,000, $750,000 and $1.2 million if Meyer is still employed as head coach on Jan. 31 of years 2014, 2016 and 2018.

Meyer stepped away from his coaching position with the Florida Gators last December, citing health concerns and a desire to spend more time with his family.
As he stood at the dais in front of a jam-packed room that included the likes of former OSU linebacker Chris Spielman and Bruce, Meyer clenched in his hand a pink piece of paper — a contract drawn up by one of his daughters.

Meyer said it was a contract “my kids made me sign,” presumably to keep the balance between work and family that he went in search of when he left Florida last December.

“Health-wise, I feel great,” Meyer said, noting a health scare in 2009 that gave him time to reflect. “I feel fantastic now.”

He said he was “checked out” by doctors and also talked with his family over the Thanksgiving weekend — and promised to not go “to that place” of overexertion he ventured while coaching the Gators.

“I don’t want to be one of those guys that’s sleeping in the office, saying, ‘I missed this, I missed that,’” Meyer said. “I was proud I had balance for quite a while. I lost that near the end.”

Meyer cut his coaching teeth on Bruce’s staff as a graduate assistant from starting in 1986.

He spent two years (2001-02) at Bowling Green and two years (2003-2004) bringing the Utah football program to prominance, including a berth in the 2004 Fiesta Bowl — Utah’s first BCS bid.

He then took the Florida position where he led the Gators to the 2006 and 2008 BCS national championship games — including a 41-14 win over Ohio State in the first of the two title bouts.

“Other than those 60 minutes in Glendale,” said Meyer, where the 2006 BCS national title game was held, “I’ve always followed the Buckeyes.”

Meyer brings with him to Columbus a 104-23 (.819) career record. His teams are 7-1 in bowl games, with the lone loss coming to Michigan.

In announcing Meyer, Smith said the search committee sought “an outstanding coach and an outstanding recruiter.”

Meyer, whom Smith said was the only candidate who was interviewed and offered the job, suggested more.

“Our objective is simple,” he said. “To make the state of Ohio proud, recruit student-athletes who will win in the classroom and on the field.

“My goal right now is to put together a fantastic recruiting class and ... I think Ohio State deserves the best group of assistants in America.”

Smith said recruiting and forming his staff will be Meyer’s primary duties for the coming months. Meyer will not be part of the coaching and game-planning for any bowl game Ohio State might accept.

There are possible sanctions looming from the NCAA in the aftermath of the memorabilia-for-tattoos scandal that removed former coach Jim Tressel and helped create the opening Meyer filled on Monday.

Meyer said he researched the possible bowl ban and other items, but trusts Smith and OSU president Gordon Gee that no further sanctions would be forthcoming.

Meyer admitted he had “second, third, fourth and fifth” thoughts about jumping back into the coaching fray. He said his wife and three children also had second thoughts.
But as the introductory conference, which lasted 45 minutes, wore on, he glanced over to his wife and other family members and smiled.

“This is my home state,” he said. “And it’s great to be back home.”

courtesy of John Kampf

ELYRIA — He may have officially committed to play football at The Ohio State University on Thursday, but for Elyria senior Chase Farris, signing his letter of intent at his school meant a little more to him.

Friday, at the school’s auditorium in front of faculty and teammates, Farris sat next to his mother Dina and finally got to enjoy his signing day.

Farris was originally supposed to sign on Wednesday, but Elyria had to postponed school on Tuesday and Wednesday due to treacherous winter weather.
Despite the delay, Farris said was happy to share the moment with his family and friends.

"It kind of crushed me that we didn’t have school on Wednesday and we couldn’t get it out of the way then, but the way it happened — I wouldn’t take it back for anything," Farris said.

During the assembly, Elyria Athletic Director Jerry Chizmar and former Elyria football coach Steve Hamilton took turns acknowledging Farris’ accomplishments on and off the field.

After Farris signed his letter he grabbed an Ohio State cap and put it on with a big smile on his face.

"It’s been a long time coming," Farris said. "Just to sign on the dotted line was a wonderful feeling."

Farris’ mother, Dina, said she was glad her son got to have his moment in the spotlight.

"Today has been a good day," Dina said. "We finally got a day where we could all come together. I’m just blessed and very humble and I’m grateful for the community and all of our supporters."

Like any mother would be, Dina was brimming with pride.

"It just goes to show if you do what you’re supposed to do and give respect and listen to your coaches and teacher, then you can go far."

Dina said as Chase began to grow and get more and more into athletics she never thought football would be the sport he would excel in.

"The funny part is the sport he cared nothing about was the one that got him the scholarship," Dina said. "Growing up he played baseball and his main love was basketball. He carried a basketball around everywhere he went.

"He would always come to me and ask to go to all these different camps and it was because he wanted to be out there, not because I wanted him to do it."

The man who changed Farris’ fortune about playing football was Hamilton.

Hamilton convinced Farris to play football coached him all four years in high school. Although he is no longer the head coach at Elyria, Hamilton said he is happy for his former standout.

"I look at it as moving on in another direction," Hamilton said. "That young man has earned his keep and has done the work that is necessary in the classroom and on the football field.

"I was very excited for him because getting kids to the next level was a goal of ours when I took over the program."

Chizmar said that it’s always a special time when kids get to go to college.

"Any time you have a kid go to school it’s a special thing," Chizmar said. "Its shows you that the kids, coaches and teachers all worked hard and it’s just fantastic for the community."

Farris said he has no plans to go down to OSU early and that he’s going to workout at school and enjoy the rest of his season year. Farris added that he’s actually thinking about joining the track team in the spring for the first time.

When ask what events he would participate in, Farris just laughed and said, "Well I’m not going to embarrass myself running, but probably do shot put and disc."

courtesy of Anthony Rios

COLUMBUS — There’s a reason Chase Farris has been sporting an ear-to-ear smile all week — and it has nothing to do with getting two days of school off this week because of a brutal ice storm.

Not only did the standout defensive end from Elyria sign a national letter of intent on Wednesday to play football at Ohio State, but he also spent Thursday being introduced at a luncheon in Columbus as a member of the North Team that will play in the Ohio North-South all-star game in April.

Farris is set to enroll for summer quarter classes in June. But first he will get to play one last high school football game against Ohio’s best seniors on April 22 in Ohio Stadium.

Which is where Farris will play his home games the next four years.

"To be chosen for this game is an amazing feeling," Farris said on Thursday at the Columbus Hilton at Easton Place prior to the luncheon. "It’s a true honor."

The 6-foot-6, 265-pounder got the true all-star treatment at the luncheon. Almost as soon as he entered the lobby, he was swarmed by a large group of media members who cover Ohio State, wanting to talk to him and other members of the Buckeyes’ recruiting class, each of whom signed their letters of intent on Wednesday.

"When I got the phone call (telling him he was selected to play in the game), I had my dad stop the car and everything," Farris said. "I was down visiting with him in North Carolina and he was in the car with me. I told him, ‘I just got picked for the North-South game and I think I really want to play in it.’"

Farris’ North Team is being coached by Howland coach Dick Angle. Other Ohio State signees on the North are DerJuan Gambrell (Toledo Rogers), Doran Grant (St. Vincent-St. Mary), Steve Miller (Canton McKinley) and Devin Smith (Massillon).
To think this is going to be a run-of-the-mill, laid back game might be a misnomer.

"Of course it matters who wins," Farris said. "Everyone goes out there to win. That’s the fun part of the game."

courtesy of John Kampf

Elyria’s Chase Farris will continue his football career, verbally committing to Ohio State.

Farris, a 6-foot-6, 265-pound lineman who will be converting to defensive tackle, had several offers, including Notre Dame, Boston College, California, Duke, Indiana, Michigan State, Buffalo and Toledo.

The last time Ohio State offered a football scholarship to Lorain County athletes were Avon Lake native and St. Ignatius’ Anthony Gonzalez and Avon Lake’s Mike D’Andrea.

The Buckeyes also recruited Elyria West’s Steve Tovar and Elyria Catholic’s Matt Wilhelm, but the last Elyria athlete to receive a football scholarship was John Husband in 1970.

swalker@MorningJournal.com