Urban Meyer makes case for USC being an elite coaching job

Urban Meyer told Colin Cowherd that USC is an “elite, elite job” in college football. Recruiting is at the heart of his pitch for the Trojans’ potential.

Is USC still a great job in college football? Urban Meyer, the coveted former national championship head coach, thinks so.

On Monday, Meyer appeared on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio and expressed exactly that opinion.

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Cowherd explained his theory about the difference between glamour jobs and great jobs. He tagged USC, Miami, Texas and Georgia as glamour jobs while the likes of Ohio State, Oklahoma, Alabama, LSU are the truly great jobs.

Meyer, however, disagreed.

Twitter user @kfm8888 recorded the segment on Twitter on Monday:

“I think it all starts and ends with recruiting,” Meyer said. “I think USC is not a glamour job. I think that’s an elite, elite job. Why? Within two hours of your campus you’ve got the best players in America, or as good as any.”

He also called Georgia “real, real” and opined about how Florida schools suffer from recruiting bases with often underdeveloped prospects.

Given the rumors connecting Urban Meyer to interest in the USC job, which ultimately never came officially open, his response is certainly one to take note of.

The Trojans do have built-in advantages when it comes to location. Meyer is absolutely right about that. Not only is the city of Los Angeles, with beaches and nice weather, desirable to out of state recruits, but the southland houses college football power houses like Mater Dei and Long Beach Poly churning out stellar players. Two of the Top 6 and six of the Top 50 players in the class of 2020 are from within the state of California.

But having a recruiting pool available to you is like being born with pure athleticism. Being bigger, stronger and faster than your peers can drive your success to a certain point, but eventually the scales even out and your success or failure depends on hard work and dedication to maximizing your talent.

USC’s output with one of the most talented rosters in America is proof of that. So is the fact that none of those aforementioned recruits is currently committed to the Trojans.

The biggest problem for USC is whether it desires to act like an elite job.

The Trojans don’t invest in football the way elite programs like Ohio State, Oklahoma, Alabama and LSU do. The likes of Texas and Georgia have certainly put more financial stake in their football teams, showing willingness to throw their weight around. When was the last time USC landed a head coach with the profile of Tom Herman, even if that hire isn’t exactly going smoothly for the Longhorns?

Until USC puts their money where their mouth is, the Trojans will continue to stagnate in a pool of potential. But at least it’s there for people like Meyer to see.