Michigan State once passed on Urban Meyer during coaching search because they were seeking a "tier 1 head coach"

When Nick Saban decided to leave East Lansing to become the head coach at LSU following the 1999 season, the Spartans handed the reigns of the program to Bobby Williams who was widely regarded as a player's coach.

Williams tenure in East Lansing lasted just less than three full seasons, as he went 16-17 before decision makers decided a change needed to be made. While Williams was let go nine games after a 3-9 start to the 2002 season, Nick Saban had quickly built a national title contender in Baton Rouge, and would lead the Tigers to a national title in 2003.

Saban's quick success at his new stop had the MSU administration reaching for the stars during their coaching search to replace Bobby Williams following the 2002 season, and thanks to a story Urban Meyer shared during a recent podcast episode with longtime Spartans basketball coach Tom Izzo - who is set to take part in his 16th Sweet 16 appearance with Michigan State later tonight - we know exactly how high they were setting the bar during that fateful search.

While wrapping up a story, Izzo reflected back a few decades to that coaching search, and remembered Urban being a name that was mentioned after his quick success at Bowling Green during his first head coaching stint. 

After an 8-3 initial season in 2001, Urban had the Falcons undefeated and ranked among the top 16 in the country when he was sitting at his desk and got a call from a "headhunter" representing Michigan State.

"The headhunter called me early on and said, 'Would you be interested?' Well I've always loved Michigan State."

"But then he called me back, and said, 'You're out of the search. We want a Tier 1 coach.'"

Urban goes on to share, with his facial expression looking as shocked as ever, that he still remembers hanging up the phone and being absolutely fired up and that served as great motivation for him moving forward.

The head coach the Spartans ended up hiring that cycle? Louisville head coach John L. Smith - who would go on to finish the 2002 season 7-6 after a 9-3 season in 2000 and an 11-2 year with the Cardinals in 2001.

It's tough to imagine now, but to at least one search firm the early 2000's were a world where John L. Smith was considered a tier 1 coach, while Urban Meyer was not. Wow. Got it.

Smith would spent four seasons at Michigan State going 22-26 overall, his best being an 8-5 first season in East Lansing, before he was let go after a 4-8 season in 2006. That next search ended with Mark Dantonio being tabbed, and he would go on to put together a tenure that catapulted him into the College Football Hall of Fame after leading the Spartans to unprecedented success.

I'd be interested to know if the same headhunter was trusted to conduct both the John L. Smith search, and the Mark Dantonio search.