Urban Meyer’s 10 Defining College Players

Is Joey Bosa really the best player Urban Meyer ever coached? Talent-wise for the NFL, maybe, but who have been Meyer’s signature college players over his phenomenal coaching career?

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1. QB Tim Tebow, Florida (Under Meyer 2006-2009)

2010, 1st round, 25th pick overall by Denver
Pick Before: WR Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State, by Dallas
Pick After: DT Dan Williams, Tennessee by Arizona

Arguably the greatest college quarterback of all-time in terms of accomplishments and overall resume, he was a part of a national champion as a freshman, won the Heisman as a sophomore as the first 20-20 player to run for 20 touchdowns and throw for 20, won the national title as a junior, and came within an SEC championship loss to Alabama of likely winning a third national title. More than that, he became a cult hero for Gator and college football fans.

Accurate in college, he hit 66% of his throws for 9,285 yards and 88 touchdowns with just 16 picks, while running for 2,947 yards and 57 bruising touchdowns. His game didn’t translate to the NFL, but he was the right recruit at the right time for Urban Meyer to take what he wants to do to a whole other level. He was the one who made the Meyer version of the spread attack work with power, while also utilizing all the special weapons around him to crank up the elite offense.

2. QB Alex Smith, Utah (Under Meyer 2003-2004)

2005, 1st pick overall
Pick Before: None
Pick After: RB Ronnie Brown, Auburn by Miami

Now known as the guy San Francisco took instead of Aaron Rodgers, during his two years with Urban Meyer at Utah, Smith showed off the passing ability, the athleticism, and the smarts to become one of the first superstar quarterbacks of the spread era.

After a good sophomore year after Meyer took over – on the way to a 10-2 season – Smith took off once it all came together as a junior. While he ran for 631 yards and ten touchdowns and hit over 67% of his throws for 2,952 yards and 32 touchdowns with just four picks, the fourth-place finisher for the 2004 Heisman was best known for leading the Utes to a 12-0 season with a dominant Fiesta Bowl win over Pitt. Meyer was able to parlay the two years as a rental into the Florida gig.

3. RB Ezekiel Elliott, Ohio State (Under Meyer 2013-2015)

Not Drafted Yet
Pick Before: COMING
Pick After: COMING

So who said Urban Meyer couldn’t coach running backs? Carlos Hyde became one of the first star running backs under Meyer’s watch, but it was Elliott who fit the system enough to help carry the Buckeyes to the 2014 national title and within a loss to Michigan State of going to the playoffs for a second season in a row. Elliott followed up an 1,878-yard, 18 touchdown season with an 1,821-yard, 23 score year that was strangely ignored by the Heisman world.

Even so, with the win over Alabama in the 2015 Sugar Bowl and the victory over Oregon in the inaugural College Football Playoff, Elliott helped give Meyer the honor being the first head coach to win the playoff.

4. QB Braxton Miller, Ohio State (Under Meyer 2012-2015)

Not Drafted Yet
Pick Before: COMING
Pick After: COMING

Miller was the key to Meyer’s transition into Ohio State life. After a good freshman year, Miller turned into a Big Ten Player of the Year star throwing for 2,039 yards and 15 touchdowns with just six interceptions, and running for 1,271 yards and 13 scores, leading the Buckeyes to a 12-0 season.

He followed it up with another 12-0 regular season and another Big Ten Player of the Year honor before OSU lost the Big Ten title game and to Clemson in an Orange Bowl shootout finishing with another 1,000-yard rushing season while throwing for close to 2,100 yards and 24 scores. While he was underwhelming as a receiver in 2015 – catching just 25 passes for 340 yards and three scores – he stuck around instead of going somewhere else to play quarterback.

5. DE Joey Bosa, Ohio State (Under Meyer 2013-2015)

Not Drafted Yet
Pick Before: COMING
Pick After: COMING

The two-time All-American, 2014 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and a finalist for all the major defensive awards, he might end up being even bigger at the next level with the talent and potential to be the greatest pro player Meyer ever coached.

Bosa finished up his career with 26 sacks and 51 tackles for loss highlighted by his 55 tackle, 13.5 sack, four forced fumble 2014 season. With his speed, toughness, and power, he’s the total package for a next-level defensive lineman and one of the keys to the D on the way to a national title. The other big key? Bosa was able to get his brother, star prospect Nick Bosa, to sign on in the 2016 recruiting class.

6. LB Brandon Spikes, Florida (Under Meyer 2006-2009)

2010, 2nd round, 62nd pick overall
Pick Before: OG Vladimir Ducasse, Massachusetts, by New York Jets
Pick After: LB Patrick Agerer, Iowa, by Indianapolis

A disappointment in the NFL with four mediocre seasons before spending a year in Buffalo – finishing his career with 206 tackles – he was every bit the leader for the defensive side during the key years at Florida that Tim Tebow was for the offense. A big-time thumper, he came up with 307 tackles highlighted by a 131-stop sophomore season.

A captain as a junior, that was HIS defense, and it showed being in the mix for every major defensive award as the star in the middle. While he struggled to live up to the hype as a senior – an off-the-field incident had something to do with that – he was still considered one of the year’s top linebackers. The two-time All-American was exactly what Meyer needed for his D.

[MORE: 10 Potential Heisman Contenders From 2016 Recruiting Class]

7. WR Percy Harvin, Florida (Under Meyer from 2006-2009)

2009, 1st round, 22nd pick overall
Pick Before: RB Dino Philyaw, Oregon, by New England
Pick After: QB Craig Whelihan, Pacific, by San Diego

Even after coaching Ohio State, and even with all the stars he’s worked with, Meyer has never had a player as electrifying as Harvin. A do-it-all playmaker, he was the flash to Tim Tebow’s thump in the Gator attack, working in a variety of ways running for 19 touchdowns averaging 9.5 yards per carry over his three years, while also catching 133 passes for 1,929 yards and 13 touchdowns averaging close to 15 yards per play. While he never fit one defined role, it didn’t matter – he was devastating whenever he got the ball in his hands for two national championship teams.

8. QB J.T. Barrett, Ohio State (Under Meyer from 2014-2015)

Not Drafted Yet
Pick Before: COMING
Pick After: COMING

Cardale Jones got to land the plane, and Ezekiel Elliott might have been the signature star, but it was Barrett who did the heavy lifting throughout the 2014 season on the way to Meyer’s third national title. With Braxton Miller down in the offseason, Barrett came in from the cold and turned in a Heisman-worthy season completing 65% of his passes for 2,834 yards and 34 touchdowns with ten picks before suffering a broken leg against Michigan. In 2015 he did just fine in the mix with Jones and finished with a good season as part of the rotation. Now he’s Urban’s main man for another good team going into 2016.

Barrett was the recruit Meyer picked as his guy – remember, Miller wasn’t a Meyer recruit at OSU – and it more than worked out. If you’re a quarterback and you get the Urban seal of approval at this point, you’re doing something right.

9. QB Josh Harris, Bowling Green (Under Meyer from 2001-2002)

2004, 6th round, 187th pick overall
Pick Before: S Etric Pruitt, Southern Miss, by Atlanta
Pick After: P Andy Lee, Pitt, by Seattle

Harris was the first. He was the blueprint to show just how amazing the spread offense could be under Meyer’s tutelage, and he was the one who helped ramp up the offensive firepower. Okay as a sophomore, he ripped up the MAC as a junior throwing for 2,425 yards and 19 touchdowns with 737 rushing yards and 20 scores – he was one scoring pass away from beating Tim Tebow to the 20/20 mark.

Granted, Harris took Bowling Green to a MAC title under Gregg Brandon with over 3,800 passing yards with 27 touchdown passes and 13 touchdown runs – he also caught four scoring passes in his career – but it was the Urban era that was the start of something special.

10. TE Aaron Hernandez, Florida (Under Meyer from 2007-2009)

2010, 4th round, 113th pick overall
Pick Before: RB Joe McKnight, USC, by New York Jets
Pick After: TE Dennis Pitta, BYU, by Baltimore

It might be an extreme example, but Hernandez not only showcases the talent Meyer has always brought in, but also the problems. As phenomenal as the Meyer era was in Gainesville, there was a big, big character issue on his teams. Hernandez? Well … he had a few issues.

Terrific for the Gators, he grew into a big-time pass-catching tight end with 111 catches for 1,382 yards and 12 touchdowns before turning pro early. The 2009 Mackey Award winner as the nation’s best tight end, he caught 68 passes for 850 yards and five touchdowns as a key part of the attack.