Retired BIG 10 Official Reveals How Urban Meyer Refused To Speak To Refs

Retiring Big Ten official Dan Capron shared some stories with the Chicago Tribune about his time dealing with coaches on the sidelines. One thing he revealed was how former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer would not speak with the refs, like at all...

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“He is unlike any other Big Ten coach,” Capron said. “He is distant, uncommunicative. He had a staff member whose job it was to communicate with the officials. I’d come over at the end of the first half, as I’m obligated to do, and say, ‘Coach, you’re out of timeouts.’ Or maybe I’d say something like, ‘Coach, No. 64 is on the edge (of getting a penalty) — you better talk to him.’ I was engaging in what we call preventive officiating.

“If you don’t want to listen to what I have to say, you’re probably not doing your team any favor. I’m not expecting that coaches will be warm and fuzzy, though some of them are absolutely lovable. Coach Meyer was all about the business of coaching his team, and he wanted nothing to do with the officials or with officiating.”
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“Any time I would approach his sideline, he would turn and go the other direction,” Capron added. “Now, in his defense Ohio State is a pressure-packed job and he’s got a million things on his mind. The other coaches seem to be able to parse that out in such a way that they’re able to communicate with the officials.

“For whatever reason, that wasn’t on his radar screen. The pregame meetings were as brief as he could possibly make them … captains’ numbers, kickoff time, everybody legally equipped. Check, check, check. Good luck, coach. Goodbye.”

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(The Spun)