Networks Should Let Urban Meyer Talk About Football For as Long as He Damn Pleases

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It feels inevitable that Urban Meyer will eventually drift in the direction of a siren song alluring him back to coaching football. Whichever program is lucky enough to convince him to take on familiar but still additional headaches will be richly rewarded with success unless the Earth gets permanently knocked off its axis by an uncharacteristically clumsy Superman.

For now, though, it's become abundantly clear that whichever television program has access to his services would be best served by giving him access to all the appliances, spices, salts, oils, and starches, stand back, and let him cook.

Meyer's comments about struggling teams last Saturday on Big Noon Kickoff were immediately identified as above-average content and widely disseminated.

And for good reason. That's a ton of information, tightly-packed and digestible. Something that looks a lot easier than it actually is when the red light is on.

The Big Ten Network smartly leveraged this moment by giving Meyer's thoughts even more space to breathe. Here's Gerry DiNnardo, who coincidentally has the most appetizing name in sports media, asking his coaching frat brother to expand on those thoughts.

Those six-plus minutes absolutely fly. The viewer is transported to a more thoughtful place than usual by an authoritative vehicle. It's abundantly clear why this man has been so successful in his role as a coach and also more broadly as CEO of a major corporation, which is a more accurate description of what he did at Ohio State and Florida.

So rarely on pregame shows or other ancillary programs does a pundit or segment leave the audience wanting more. But this Meyer monologue where he talks about the ins, outs, and whathaveyous of it all is the exception.

It's probably not feasible to give him half-hour chunks of air time but it also wouldn't be the worst idea. Meyer doesn't need an editor or a get-back guy telling him to rein it in. Give him the mic, let him go, and enjoy. Maximize his talents while he's concentrating them on television, not the sideline.