Larry Brown Sports

LeBron James‘ high school football exploits are pretty well known. The NBA MVP was an all-state wide receiver as a sophomore at St. Vincent – St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio, and has publicly flirted with the idea of playing pro football many times. Now we’re learning that he had a football scholarship offer from one of the most prominent coaches and schools in the country.

Current Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer recently told The Palm Beach Post’s Ethan J. Skolnick that he is a Miami Heat admirer. In fact, he says that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra reached out to him for advice last offseason. The two exchanged tips on how to deal with star athletes, and Meyer seemed to feel the meeting was mutually beneficial. He also shared the nugget about offering LeBron.

“I offered him a scholarship when he was a sophomore in high school at St. Vincent St. Mary’s,” Meyer told Skolnick. “I was at Notre Dame. He was a receiver, and I was a receivers coach.”

Meyer described LeBron as a “great” receiver, and we saw James display some of his skills during a flag football game against Kevin Durant last year. Given his size and athleticism, LeBron probably could have had an excellent career playing football — though he probably would have picked Ohio State over Notre Dame.

Would he have surpassed the expectations that Saints tight end Jimmy Graham had for him? It’s tough to say, but James probably would have done quite well.

A four-team playoff to determine the national champion is likely coming to college football in the 2014 season, and Urban Meyer is not happy about the development.

“I’ll probably get in trouble for saying this, but I think the ideal setup is what we’ve had the last decade of football,” the Ohio State coach said on Wednesday, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “I can understand why [the change] is happening, but I was not one of the screamers or yellers saying it was broke before.”

What’s funny is that Meyer was one of the yellers calling for a playoff system. Remember when he went nuts at the thought of a Michigan-Ohio State rematch national championship game in 2006?

Read The Rest of the Story…

With spring games approaching this coming weekend across college football, many coaches have come up with ideas to make the intra-squad scrimmage about more than just bragging rights. Some coaches allow the winners to eat a gourmet meal and force the losers to eat scraps. In his first season as the head coach at Ohio State, Urban Meyer has decided to put community service on the line.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Meyer plans to have the losing team complete a community service cleanup project, either at Buckeye Grove or some other location. Buckeye Grove is an area where trees are planted to represent Ohio State’s all Americans.

Depending on how lazy and opposed to improving the community Meyer’s new players are, this may give them a little extra incentive to perform well on Saturday. If impressing the coaching staff doesn’t provide the players with enough motivation in a spring game, being able to relax while their teammates work may push them over the top.

H/T Sports by Brooks Live
Photo credit: Greg Bartram-US PRESSWIRE

With Urban Meyer having moved on from Florida to become the head coach of Ohio State, it appeared that he has left the Gators without a proven leader and with a team that is heading in the wrong direction. There are some who believe the program is imploding because Meyer left. Others, however, insist the hard times Florida is falling on now are a result of the way Meyer did things while he was in Gainesville.

A Sporting News article that was published on Monday cites a number of former players who say Meyer favored certain superstar players and even protected them from failed drug tests. Former Florida safety Bryan Thomas described the program as having been “out of control.” Other former players referred to Meyer’s “Circle of Trust,” which included the elite players whom he pampered.

Percy Harvin was reportedly at the forefront of Meyer’s inner circle. Several sources told the Sporting News that the former Gators offensive weapon once grabbed receivers coach Billy Gonzales by the neck and threw him to the ground. He reportedly had to be pulled off of Gonzales by two assistant coaches but was never disciplined. Gonzales described the alleged incident as “overblown” while Meyer had the following to say.

Read The Rest of the Story…

The biggest critics of Tim Tebow believe he lacks the arm strength and throwing ability needed to be an NFL quarterback. The spread offense can work to perfection when run properly at the college level. In the NFL, defenders are typically too quick and explosive for it to be effective. Urban Meyer believes Tebow could be the exception if the Jets give him some freedom.

“Let him play,” Meyer said on ESPN according to Pro Football Talk. “Just let him play.”

Meyer said he believes the spread offense him and Tebow ran together in college would “absolutely” work at the NFL level and that it’s just a matter of a coach trusting him to execute it. A lot of people believe John Fox gave Tebow the freedom to do that when the Broncos started winning, but Meyer says Denver was still too conservative with him. Except, of course, when they were winning like in the playoffs against Pittsburgh.

“When they had success I think they did,” Meyer said. “When you started seeing him throw against those easy coverages it was because they had to stop the run.”

Meyer’s comments raise two significant issues. First off, I’m still not a believer in the spread offense at the NFL level. Cam Newton ran it in college, but he was successful last season because he passed the ball efficiently and could make plays with his legs. Tebow still has major issues throwing the ball. Perhaps more importantly, Mark Sanchez is going to try his best to make sure he plays well enough that the Jets don’t even consider unleashing Tebow. The way Meyer is talking you would think Tebow is taking over the team. At the moment, he’s merely the alternative.

Photo credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Not only is Ohio State referring to Michigan as “That team up North,” they’re also refusing to even say the name. New Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer is following Woody Hayes’ lead by not using the word.

“We don’t use their name,” Meyer said on the radio last week. “I’m a huge Woody Hayes guy. …

“That’s the greatest rivalry, and we will be ready for it, and our kids will have a clear understanding of what that game means.”

This is just further confirmation that Urb means business. We already knew that was the case when he flipped several recruits on signing day. The difference between him and every other new coach that talks a big game is that we know he can back it up. The Buckeyes’ Big Ten takeover is just beginning.

Helmet knock to Lost Lettermen for the story

Urban Meyer upset some Big Ten coaches by flipping some recruits to Ohio State on National Signing Day. A few notable Big Ten coaches felt Meyer had broken an unspoken agreement within the conference that coaches would not talk to recruits who had made verbal commitments. Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said what Meyer did was illegal. Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez found no fault in Meyer’s actions.

Meyer addressed the accusations Thursday and said they upset him.

“I was very angry,” Meyer said during an appearance on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland. “Whenever you use those terms, something like ‘illegal,’ that couldn’t be further from the truth. That doesn’t happen here, and if it did, we would make a change with whoever did it.

Read The Rest of the Story…