Print
Close
Former Ohio State, Florida coach Urban Meyer reveals the one place he refused to recruit players from
By Austin Perry
Published June 02, 2026
During his time as head coach at both Florida and Ohio State, Urban Meyer was known as a maniacal competitor who needed to win as badly as he needed to breathe air.
That desire to win extended to ventures far beyond the football field, most famously on the recruiting trail.
Meyer's competitive streak with regard to talent acquisition earned him the moniker of ace recruiter, as he landed several top-five classes in both Gainesville and Columbus, including his 2010 class at Florida, which, at the time, was the highest-rated recruiting class in the history of the sport.
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow shares a laugh with coach Urban Meyer during the fourth quarter of a college football game against Kentucky in Gainesville, Fla., on Oct. 25, 2008. (Phil Sandlin/AP)
Though he was one of the best recruiters of his era, and there are many stories to back up that claim, Meyer shared a tale on "The Triple Option" podcast about the one state he swore he would never try to poach talent from again during his time as a college football head coach.
URBAN MEYER CLAIMS KEY INJURY COST OHIO STATE, HAD EDGE OVER 2018 CLEMSON CHAMPIONS
"When I was the head coach at Florida we played around at Louisiana, and we get to the dance floor with a great player and he wouldn't come," Meyer revealed. "So I said 'enough.' I'm not flying into Louisiana again. I'm good."
The former Gators and Buckeyes head coach would go on to say that it was an easy decision to make while at Florida because there were enough talented options in both the Sunshine State and nearby Georgia as it was.
"There's enough good players around Georgia and Florida that I'm not gonna go beat my face against the wall and go into Louisiana."
NICK SABAN REVEALS 'BIGGEST MISTAKE' OF ILLUSTRIOUS COACHING CAREER
Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer celebrates with the trophy after defeating the Washington Huskies in the 2019 Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 2019. (Robert Hanashiro/USA TODAY Sports)
Meyer would go on to acknowledge that Nick Saban had some success going into the bayou and grabbing some players he wanted, though part of that could have been because of his previous ties to LSU.
Everything coach Meyer said lines up with what I have said several times over the past few months with regard to players from the state of Louisiana.
It might be the single hardest state to pry talented players from, and it's even tough to recruit kids to LSU from their home state if you don't have the right head coach in charge.
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
It's why LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry made the comments he did about former head coach Brian Kelly, and why they went and hired Ed Orgeron back as their recruiting director.
LSU Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron celebrates with quarterback Joe Burrow after their victory against the Clemson Tigers in the College Football Playoff national championship game at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. (Matthew Emmons/Imagn Images)
Urban Meyer won three national championships in his illustrious career, but he wouldn't dare fly into The Boot to try and out-recruit the Tigers for their hometown talent.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The fact that Coach O and LSU are back together again probably means most coaches should listen to Meyer, as Louisiana might be closed to outsiders for the foreseeable future.
Good luck trying to pry a Louisiana native out of the clutches of Orgeron and the Bayou Bengals moving forward.
https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/former-ohio-state-florida-coach-urban-meyer-reveals-one-place-refused-recruit-players