Will Urban Meyer Stick it Out at the OSU?

Sportswriter Greg Stoda of the PB Post says, "Don't Bet on It":

The smart money says Urban Meyer will quit on Ohio State, too.

And if he does fulfill the terms of the six-year deal he just signed to become the Buckeyes' coach? The same smart money says Meyer never will match the success he had at Florida with two national titles in six seasons.

The question no longer is whether Meyer punked the Gators - he absolutely did - when he bolted after last season and then popped up at Ohio State less than 11 months later. All that talk about his health concerns and desire to spend more time with family, while true, provided convenient cover. He was an arrogant man expediting his own agenda.

Meyer jilted Florida to escape a deepening slump and avail himself of whatever possibility might arise.
...
The team Meyer inherited at Florida from Ron Zook for the 2005 season was much better than the one he'll inherit at Ohio State. Meyer won his first national championship in his second Florida season with Zook recruits at the team's core. That's not how it's going to go so immediately for the Buckeyes, who'll need Meyer to be at his recruiting best if they are to regain powerhouse status out of the wreckage of this season.

Meyer managed three 13-1 seasons with the Gators, but said he burned out in the process. There were esophageal spasms and headaches and worries about a wife and children having to make too many concessions to his work. He contemplated leaving Florida a year before he actually did, took an ill-shaped leave of absence and kept the job.
...
It seems a leap of faith - not to mention the risk of spending $4 million per year even before bonus clauses kick in - for Ohio State to believe Meyer is refreshed enough to do heavy lifting for six years.
...
Bulletin: The Gators gave Meyer every opportunity to undertake a journey of such self-discovery when they granted him the leave. Florida Athletic Director Jeremy Foley, who cultivated a close friendship with Meyer, ought to feel insulted.

What? Meyer had an ... epiphany?

Umm, not really.

"I think, 'Go hard.' I mean, like, relentless," Meyer said.

That's quite a conundrum. Meyer could be pinched if professional ambition comes at the cost of personal angst, or if personal satisfaction comes at the cost of professional success. Is compromise even possible in such circumstance? And at a place where the college football cauldron burns as blazingly hot as it does at Ohio State and where there suddenly is so much work to do?

The 47-year-old Meyer the Buckeyes are getting isn't the same youngish firebrand the Gators got when they hired him out of Utah seven years ago, and the proof is irrefutable. Meyer decided he wouldn't or couldn't fix the mess Florida was in of his own doing after the 2010 season, so he walked away. Will Muschamp was said to be appalled at the drop in Gators' stock upon succeeding Meyer, and called this season's 6-6 team "soft" in a particularly cutting recent evaluation.

Now, it appears that Meyer's task at Ohio State will be more difficult than the one he first undertook at Florida despite a returning Buckeyes quarterback in Braxton Miller who looks plenty capable of triggering the kind of high-powered offense his new coach prefers.

Sure, it'll probably be easier for Meyer to win a title in the Big Ten than it ever was in the Southeastern Conference. But the reward for SEC supremacy is more often a chance to win a national crown.

It won't take long for the Buckeye crowd to be screaming for Meyer to produce what he produced at Florida.

Is he committed enough to do so?

The smart money says no.

Oh, I think the way Meyer measures, he's already won. (Show ... Me ... the MONEY !) Pity the family thing, though.