Urban Meyer defends his program(s) at Big Ten media day

Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer took the witness stand, I mean the podium, at Wednesday’s Big Ten media day to defend himself and his last two programs.

Life should be good for a coach coming off a 12-0 season as he enters a season in which is team is one of the favorites for the last Bowl Championship Series championship.

Meyer, though, has faced an off-season of scrutiny on a myriad of issues. The biggest, by far, was the arrest of former Florida star Aaron Hernandez on murder charges. Hernandez played for Meyer in Gainesville, Fla. Meyer was also accused by Florida of turning in his former school for secondary NCAA violations.

He also has had to deal with other off-field issues involving his Ohio State Buckeyes.

Meyer, entering his second season in Columbus, was asked how he viewed his own reputation.

“I guess a reputation is what others think of you,” Meyer responded.

And there lies the crux. Meyer has openly espoused discipline in college football and criticized the ills of the college game. So is he one of the good guys or the bad guys?

Meyer spoke of the legal issues he’s had to deal with in the last year.

“And it drives you insane that you have to deal with that nonsense,” Meyer said. “...To have a couple of knuckleheads make some decisions that reflect the entire program, that’s not -- I guess it’s part of the deal. It’s something that bothers me, bothers our staff, and we work very hard to avoid with our players.”

Hernandez, of course, has been accused of being a murderer, not a knucklehead, and his story will likely follow Meyer through the regular season.

Meyer sent a text message, before leaving on vacation, stating the criticism regarding Florida’s responsibility for Hernandez was wrong and irresponsible.

“I’m not sure I’m allowed to say what the actual truth was because there’s investigations going on,” he said. “But that was four years ago a player played for us.”

Meyer, it can be reported, was also able to answer a few football-related questions.

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