(From Ohio State University)
Urban Meyer, the third-winningest coach in Division I history who led Ohio State to a national championship, three Big Ten Conference titles and seven wins over Michigan during a seven-year tenure as head coach, will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this year as a member of the 2025 class. The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced the 22-member class – 18 first-team All-America players and four standout coaches – today.
The 2025 College Football Hall of Fame Class will officially be inducted during the 67th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 9, 2025, at Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
The inductees will also be recognized at their respective collegiate institutions with NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes, presented by Fidelity Investments, during the fall.
Meyer coached the final game of a coaching career that places him alongside legends on Jan. 1, 2019 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. His Buckeyes defeated Pac 12 champion Washington, 28-23, to cap a 13-1 campaign.
Meyer’s Ohio State Buckeyes were, for seven seasons, on top of the college football world. The team won the inaugural College Football Playoff national championship in 2014 and won Big Ten Conference titles in 2014, 2017 and 2018. His teams never finished worse than first in the Big Ten’s divisional standings, and his Buckeyes were dominant in Big Ten games with a best-ever 7-0 record vs. Michigan and a 54-4 overall record in Big Ten games, including an NCAA record 30 consecutive conference victories.
His Buckeye teams were 83-9 overall, including the sixth unbeaten/untied season in school history in 2012 (12-0), a record-tying 14 wins in 2014 and the two longest win streaks in school history: 24 and 23 games.
Meyer’s 17 seasons as a head coach featured a record of 187-32 that positions him with the third-highest winning percentage in college football history at .853, trailing only Hall of Fame coaches Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy.
Off the field, Meyer’s development of players included “Real Life Wednesdays,” a series of speakers – CEOs, money managers, pro athletes, etc. – who addressed the team in life experiences and pursuits to ensure they were prepared for life after football.
Meyer announced his retirement from coaching on Dec. 4, 2018, 18 years to the day he was named to his first head coaching position – Dec. 4, 2000 – at Bowling Green State University.
Urban Meyer Coaching Career
Meyer’s coaching career began at Bowling Green, where he orchestrated a dramatic turnaround, making the Falcons the first Mid-American Conference (MAC) team to go 3-0 against BCS opponents in a single season (2001) and posting a 17-6 record during two seasons.
He then took over at Utah, leading the Utes to a 22-2 record in two seasons, including their first undefeated season (12-0) since 1930, their first-ever BCS bowl appearance (Fiesta Bowl), and the first back-to-back Mountain West Conference (MWC) titles in league history. The Utes finished No. 21 after the 2003 season with a win in the Liberty Bowl. The Fiesta Bowl win made history as the first time a team from a non-automatically qualifying BCS conference played in a BCS bowl, earning the Utes the distinction as the inaugural “BCS Buster.” The Utes would finish at No. 4 in the final AP Poll after the 2004 season, and quarterback Alex Smith (a 2024 Hall of Fame inductee) was a Heisman finalist and eventual No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft.
At Florida, Meyer won two national championships (2006, 2008) and two SEC titles (2006, 2008) with an overall record of 65-15 during his six seasons in Gainesville. Meyer’s Florida tenure included a 22-game winning streak, one of four separate 20-game winning streaks he achieved across his career—the only coach in major college football history to do so. He also coached 2007 Heisman Trophy winner and 2023 Hall of Fame inductee Tim Tebow, who won the Campbell Trophy.
Meyer’s success continued at Ohio State. When he guided the team to the national championship in 2014, he became the first modern-era coach to win a national championship in two different conferences and one of only two to do it at two different schools (fellow 2025 inductee Nick Saban being the other).
Meyer set a major college record with 165 wins in his first 15 seasons. His postseason success was equally impressive, with a 12-3 bowl record (78.5% win rate), the second-highest in FBS history.
In total, Meyer coached 44 first-team All-Americans, 77 first-team all-conference players, four NFF National Scholar-Athletes (two at Florida, two at Ohio State) and two College Football Hall of Fame inductees. He won seven conference championships overall. He was named the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year in 2004, and he was named the conference Coach of the Year three times (MWC in 2003, 2004 and MAC in 2001).
Beyond football, Meyer has made a lasting impact through civic service, serving on the boards of the Veterans Golfers Association, Folds of Honor, and the Tim Tebow Foundation. He and his wife established the Urban and Shelley Meyer Fund for Cancer Research at Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Meyer earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Cincinnati (1986), lettering one season (1984) with the Bearcats as a defensive back. While launching his coaching career as a graduate assistant with the Buckeyes, he earned his master’s degree in sports administration from Ohio State in 1988. Meyer’s coaching career also includes assistant positions at Illinois State, Colorado State and Notre Dame. He was the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021.
He is a member of the Utah Athletics Crimson Club Hall of Fame, the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame, and the Ashtabula County Football Hall of Fame. He currently serves as a host and analyst on FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff.
Ohio State Head Coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame (8)
Name – Years at Ohio State Inducted
Urban Meyer – 2012-18 2025
Jim Tressel – 2001-10 2015
John Cooper – 1988-2000 2008
Earle Bruce – 1979-87 2002
Woody Hayes – 1951-78 1983
Francis Schmidt – 1934-40 1971
(above pic courtesy of Columbus Wired)